The decision to live for God or the World:

We have talked about living our lives for God now for the last several weeks, I feel now  the time has come that we make a decision, are we going to live for God or the world.  We like to think that we can do both but that is not true, God wants all or nothing.  God tells the city of Laodicea, “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other!  But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth!  You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.  I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. And also buy white garments so you will not be shamed by your nakedness. And buy ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.  I am the one who corrects and disciplines everyone I love. Be diligent and turn from your indifference.”  How many of us are just like the city Laodicea? We love to come to church on Sunday mornings, we love to call ourselves Christians, those that follow Christ yet we do not want to have to live the life of one who follows Christ.  We may even go home and read the bible daily, high light our bibles, and memorize scriptures, yet at the end of the day we easily say God understands if I sin a little, or if I miss one Sunday. 

In Matthew 13:44 Christ says, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”  We have a wonderful reward in coming to the  Kingdom of Heaven, are we willing to go where we are asked to go, to sell what needs sold, to give up what needs to be given up?  We have a God that loves and wants us to have a meaningful relationship with Him.  In Matthew 13 Christ tells the parable of the soils.  “A farmer went out to plant some seed.  As he scattered it across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The plants sprang up quickly, but they soon wilted beneath the hot sun and died because the roots had no nourishment in the shallow soil.  Other seeds fell among thorns that shot up and choked out the tender blades. But some seeds fell on fertile soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted. Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!”(Verses 3-9)  Many of us want to say I am the healthy the soil!

I like what Francis Chan has to say about this piece of Scripture; “Has your relationship with God actually changed the way you live? Do you see evidence of God’s kingdom in your life? Or are you choking it out slowly by spending too much time, energy, money, and thought on the things of this world? Are you satisfied being “godly enough” to get yourself to heaven, or to look good in comparison to others? Or can you say with Paul that you “want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Phil. 3:10)? For a long time this verse had just too much Jesus for me. In my opinion, the verse should have ended after the word resurrection, so I could have an appealing, popular Jesus who didn’t suffer. The feedback I received from other Christians reassured me that this was a fine perspective, and it gave me little reason to strive to know Christ more deeply. I was told I was good enough, “godly enough.”

Chan, Francis (2010-01-01). Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God (pp. 65-66). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.