A child stood and said she was going to quit telling lies. A teenager rose to his feet and said he was going to quit smoking. Even adults were making these public confessions. They were going to quit drinking or gambling or cussin’, etc.
And then it happened. A saintly silver-haired lady stood up. It was real quiet and
folks were wondering what this “model” Christian had possibly done.
“Well now, Mrs. Jones,” said the preacher, “what are you repenting of?”
Mrs. Jones cleared her throat and said, “I ain’t done nothin’ and I’m gonna quit it.”
Perhaps we should all be reminded that sometimes our most prevalent sin is something we were supposed to do, but didn’t. And as believers in the Lord Jesus, the list could go on and on: sharing Christ with others, praying, reading our Bibles
regularly, attending worship and Bible Study regularly, stewardship,
fellowshipping with other Christians.
Sure, we're busy--every one of us. But when we came to know Christ, we made a commitment to Him that we would follow Him and do His bidding. That's part of what being a disciple means. But I'm afraid that over the decades the definition of what Christianity really is, somehow has been reduced to a list of things we don't
do.
And we've left off some of the most important things that we should be doing!
Read what Jesus said in a couple of places. The first is in Matthew 7:21--"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." The second is from John 14:15--"If you love me, you will obey what I command."
And James 4:17 reads, “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
So the message is pretty clear, isn't it? Following Christ and making a difference in our world involves so much more than NOT doing something. According to Scripture, while there are some things which need to be eliminated from our lives, the heaviest
emphasis is to be put on the things we actually DO.
So let's get started! If we’re doing nothing, it may be time to quit!
–Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com