Try this. Go outside three times a day, morning, noon, and night, take a big gulp of air, in fact take two, and then call that breakfast, lunch, and dinner. How long do you suppose you would remain healthy, much less alive, not long, right? Trying to serve Christ without studying the Scriptures, without praying, without contemplation and submitting to His will is exactly the same, except it is your soul that suffers, your walk with Him will be nonexistent, your profitableness to the kingdom will be zero, but this is the spiritual life, if we must call it that, that many who call Jesus Lord lead.
Their knowledge of the Scriptures is limited to what they hear and retain on Sunday morning, their prayer life is based around, when it occurs, the cares and concerns of their own personal life, and there is little to no praise in their heart for the One who shed His blood for them. The path of too many who call Him Lord is far from the path they are to be on, this world has them in a firm grip, and they are the ones that walked right into the traps laid for them.
The majority of people on this planet are in debt, some in very serious debt, and that includes the Christians, worry number one. Many have either lost their jobs or soon will, worry number two. With no hope for the future, at least at the moment, they have made the decision to turn to their governments for assistance, worry number three, for their governments are beyond broke, they are destitute. There are two books in the Scriptures that come to mind as I watch the world begin its downward spiral to the reign of the antichrist, the Book of Judges and that of Jeremiah.
In Judges, it seems like every other word is “and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.” They set up groves, we chase after money, they served false idols, we serve the items that we purchase with the money that we chase, they set their eyes on the things of the nations around them, we look continuously for the next new item of pleasure, despising what we once sought so hard for. The gods of many are their credit cards, their faces are glued to their phones, looking for immediate satisfaction.
Jeremiah knew sorrow, frustration, and anger, the only thing he loved more than the people he served was the Lord God, and he got to watch them go along the same path that this world is on now. His warnings, as many of those who serve Christ as Lord are today, are going unheard, the evil that is approaching is deafening the ears of the world. The chaff believe themselves to be as the wheat, the wicked are calling evil good and good evil, (Isaiah 5:20) they not only know what is happening, but they are rejoicing in those who are doing these things. (Romans 1:32)
The church, to use the term lightly here, is happy having their ears tickled, they watch as the world corrupts themselves, they hide at home, for they have determined to serve the world and lock their church doors. There are some of us who are not just warning, we have been commanded to yell from the wall of what is approaching. But like Jeremiah, we become frustrated, to say the least, at times, for few are heeding those warnings there are those who are not just warning, but are also telling all who will listen the way of escape from the wrath of God that is going to be upon this planet very soon.
To put it simply, you have to eat, or you will die, you have to be in the Word in one way or another not just every day, but every moment, you must be “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ,” (2 Cor. 10:5) you must study, or you will never be able to show yourself approved. (2 Tim. 2:15) The deceptions are growing, and they are going to become much worse, there are still a lot of people that are hungry for the truth out there, and if you are a born-again believer, purchased with the blood of the Lamb, (1 Cor. 6:20) then you are the only one that knows what the truth is, but you must feed yourself before you can offer anything to them.
Find the time, nothing is more important, find the time to be alone with Christ, only those who know Him can diligently seek Him, (Heb. 11:6) the lost do not know Him or what to seek for, go and show them the way. Fill up your plate every day, several times a day, the Lord will provide, “pressed down, good measure,” put Him to the test, (Malachi 3:10) tell Him that you want to serve, that you want to submit, that nothing, not even your own life is as valuable to you as He is. God is looking for people that are willing to do just that, His blessings will overflow on the ones that desire nothing else but His glory.
Be one of them, make the commitment, begin to fully trust, without reservation, make your goal the yearning of the words that so few will hear from His lips, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matt. 25:23) Never take your eyes off of the prize that is Christ, and you will never be hungry again. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matt. 5:6)
