“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Phil. 4:13)
You want them to do it for you, don’t you? You want the pastor to preach the message that, hopefully, he has spent much time during the week studying and praying over, so that you do not need to, so that you do not have to. All you are required to do is sit there for what is usually only about twenty minutes at best of the entire Sunday morning service and listen to him talk and your obligation for the week is complete. You didn’t have to do anything but be attentive and perhaps open your Bible to the correct place to follow along.
It’s much easier to serve Christ when others do the work for you, isn’t it?
Beyond the one hundred or so verses of the Word of God that my lovely wife has memorized, including the chapter and verse numbers, she is working on a study on what it means for a woman of God to be married to a man of God, how her life in this aspect is to glorify God in every manner of the position He has placed her in. It is a most excellent study, and it has blessed me in ways that I cannot fully describe, for it shows the depth of her love not only for the Lord Jesus Christ, but for me as well. It has taken her much time and she has applied herself to it with much prayer and supplication, no one did it for her.
Those individuals that write the books that you, hopefully, read, that speak of the wonders of the Living God, that teach how we are to behave ourselves in our lives, in His presence, those videos you watch and posts you read on many different social media sites, these individuals led by the Holy Spirit did not and are not just sitting there listening to the pastor, they did not watch as the elders and deacons went out into the world to seek for the lost, they did not remain in the seats as the play unfolded, as the team took the field. They were not spectators, they are participants.
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22)
I understand full well that some people who read these poorly written letters feel convicted, while others feel poorly about themselves, they feel a sense of loss of purpose, of despair, and that, in a sense, that the Lord is not using them for His glory. I ask you this then, who is at fault, who has been instructed, even commanded what to do and who is not performing those tasks that have clearly been placed before you?
Are you content in letting others do for you what you yourself have been told what a profitable servant is to do?
How many times a day do you go online and place a comment on any social media site that gives glory to God, no matter what the context of that site is? Can you type? Do you love Him? Are you telling others about Him who died for you, who now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest?
I did not say you have to write an entire book; you are not expected to take the lead role in the play or be the pastor, but you are expected to act, not let others do all the work while you just sit there expecting rewards for listening.
The Holy Spirit will lead you if you ask Him to, but you have to be willing to follow, you have to be willing to do, not just sit there.
