“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
You have to want to, the choice has to be made by you. If you do not want to be a missionary in a faraway land, the Lord is not going to remove all of your possessions from you and make that the only option in life left to you, He offers virtue, but He forces it on no one.
We have been blessed with free will, even after we are born-again, even after we die to self and live our lives for His glory, we still have free will. The Almighty places His offerings, as it were, before us, but we are not forced to pick them up.
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matt. 16:24)
Endure the burdens of this life, accept the sufferings, trials and tribulations, carry your cross, but you are not forced to go the extra mile for Him, that is a personal choice, that is our decision. And we will be held accountable for our choices.
Are there those who attend church on a regular basis but never speak His name to anyone outside those walls who are truly saved? “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;” (Eph. 4:11) But all are slaves, servants to the Lord Jesus Christ who have been saved by grace, who have been crucified with Him.
Can a slave disobey his Master and still remain in His household? I will answer that for you.
No.
Only those who have been born-again have the right, the privilege and blessing to call themselves slaves to Christ. So, what do we say of those who refuse to serve well, what of those who are indeed saved yet remain in that same place on the path where they began so many years ago? Shall we call them the weaker brother? Can one remain a weaker brother for the entirety of their life, can one be saved by grace through faith and refuse to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord by their own free will?
“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) But with no rewards, no crowns.
Perhaps it is not the best analogy, for that man beside our Savior had no time to serve, but I speak here today of those who have, some of them decades.
Saved, definitely, there is no question about it, but having no desire to die to self, no desire to go out and seek the lost, to humbly submit to whatever is laid before them.
“For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (Psalm 84:10)
There may be many doorkeepers in heaven my friends.
The question for you is this, is that enough for you? How close to the throne of God do you want to be, how much of the world are you willing to leave behind, how much of you are you willing to forsake for Him?
If you do not want to know the fellowship of His suffering, He will not force it upon you, if you want to stay beside the still waters when He offers to lead you through the fire, He is fine with that. You are still loved and will be for all eternity. If you want to suffer for His name, if you want trials and tribulations so that His name will be exalted above the heavens through you, He will do that for you.
But you have to want to.
In His infinite wisdom the Living God has determined that His immutable Sovereignty will not override our free will, our ability to chose how much or how little we will serve Him. It is your choice, and what you chose He will bless you with, so that you can further bless His name.
In either case, you are loved.
