“And saying, The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the
gospel.” – Mark 1:15
I can scarcely imagine anything on this earth that gives more
immediate feedback than our own reflection.
Physically speaking, just glancing in a mirror will allow you to see
instantly all that you are on the outside.
It is immediate, honest, and undeniable feedback. As your reflection shows who you are on the
outside, in like manner, your decisions and actions show who you serve on the
inside.
The psalmist and Prophet David once wrote, “when I consider the heavens, and the works of thine hands, the moon
and the stars which thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art mindful of
him? And the son of man that thou
visitest him?” It is puzzling and
humbling to think that the God that crafted the universe with his very breath,
is interested in little me. It is even
more humbling to think that he gave me a choice as to whether or not I could serve
Him. He created the heavens, the earth,
the sun, the wind, light, oceans, animals; then he made man. He could have wound us up like clocks and
left us. He could have made us like all
the other animals, created only to exist, and exist on until death. He could have made us like robots, created
only to do exactly what he wanted when he wanted. However, he did none of this. Through grace and mercy we were granted the
gift of choice as to where to spend eternity.
A fundamental human trait that separates us from all creation. Stop and consider, when God gave us a choice,
in that same breath he also offered himself up for rejection. Jesus committed to carry the cross way back
in the book of Genesis. God wanted us
and we rejected Him, we sinned, and fell in the garden; yet God loved His
creation further still. He reached out
to us constantly and consistently through the line of time and always provided
a way for us to serve Him. Then he sent
His own Son, Jesus. Jesus came and
brought to us THE way, THE truth, and THE life.
In all this, from Adam to this very moment the choice remains. The choice remains for the same reason we
were created, so that we might know Him and so that we might know perfect
love. This choice, given by grace, is
the right of every human that comes into existence, and the choice is
simple. Do you believe or do you not?
In America today the choice has been blurred. When the Apostle Peter called those men on
the day of Pentecost to repent and be baptized he was calling them to forsake
all and trust in God alone. They would
have had to step out of the conventional Jewish faith and act in direct
opposition to the mainstream. It was a
call of great cost, but one that they gladly paid; because the love of God
within was worth all the pressing. If
you were a believer in that day, you were hunted, persecuted, imprisoned,
ostracized; but you belonged to a dynamic, God fearing, Christ obeying,
evangelistic, praying, Holy Ghost lead church.
These men believed in God, believed in Christ, and their decisions were
evidence of it. Their decisions and
actions reflected plainly who sat on the throne of their heart, because it was
he who sat on the throne of their heart who commanded their decisions and
actions. It meant something to say
you believed in Christ, and it did something to them when they believed in
Christ. It made a change. You can say you believe in being a good
husband, but if you beat your wife, you do not believe. You can say you believe in being a good
employee, but if you’re always late and lazy, you do not believe. You can say you believe in Christ, but if you
do not obey His word or follow His teachings, you do not believe. Our words about our faith are sometimes a lot
like these internet avatars. They are
not what we truly are or truly look like, but rather what we want to be or want
to look like. However, are decisions and
actions are a direct reflection of what is going on in the heart. As Jesus said, “ye shall know them by their fruit.”
God gifted each of us a choice, to believe or not, to accept or
deny, to follow or flee. You have one, I
have one, we each must choose of our own accord, and we each are accountable
for our own decision. Lord help us to
step back, look at our lives, and ask “What do I believe?” Not “what do I say I believe?” But what do you really believe? If your life is: selfish, sinful, and
absorbed in this world. You do not
believe in Jesus. However, if your heart
is filled with the love of God, love for your neighbor, and your eyes are on
Him; you believe. Where are you at
today? Where do you want to be? The choice is yours.
