Obey Me
This morning, while praying, I read the following passage of Scripture:
“…But I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers. When you tell them this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.” (Jeremiah 7:23-27)
As I read this passage, I began to think about what Jesus calls us to do…repent, believe, follow! That’s pretty basic stuff. And, I know this stuff…I know that I need to repent. I know that I need to believe. I know that I need to follow. And, yet, too often, I find myself struggling with being “stiff-necked” and following my “stubborn inclinations” rather than the Truth.
This passage talks about how the people of God were moving backward, not forward. Sometimes I get the feeling that is where the Church finds itself today (notice I’m speaking of big C church here). I know that some great things are happening…but, at the same time…I see so many of us (myself included) forgetting to obey God, to walk in the ways He has commanded us. We get caught up in the pursuit of success and forget our call to repent, believe, and follow.
Anyway, as I was reading this and thinking about what God was trying to say to me, I realized that I have this tendency to focus on what I’m good at and sort of over-look those things that aren’t as easy for me. What do I mean? Well, often times when I think about evangelism I think about how I’m not very good at it. God has given me gifts in preaching, teaching, music, etc…evangelism really isn’t a strength area. Yet, I know that God is calling me to do this. It’s one of those “obey me” areas that I like to be stubborn and stiff-necked with. I justify not being actively engaged in evangelism by saying, “Well, I’m called to preach…I’ll focus on that and let someone else take care of the evangelism.”
And so, this morning, I sit here convicted that I cannot pick and choose how I obey God. When I decided to repent, believe, and follow I didn’t sign a waiver that said, “I will only repent, believe, and follow if I can decided how I will carry out the following part on my own.” And, how can I expect the people that God has called me to teach to be actively involved in evangelism if I try my best to ignore the call.
I struggle with the same fears that many do when it comes to sharing our faith…what if they reject the whole thing…what if this will strain or even ruin my friendship with this person…what if they actually respond positively…what if they ask questions I don’t have the answers to…the list of fears goes on and on. And, instead of realizing that with God, I have nothing to fear, I tend to get flattened by my fear and start talking about music, basketball, or politics instead.
So, I said I sit here convicted…I know that I need to pick up the slack in the areas of following God that I tend to skip over. I wonder what areas of following God you tend to overlook or ignore?
Two people came into my heart as I thought about this whole sharing my faith thing. One is a guy who used to be involved in church, but has since rejected the church and his faith. The other is a guy that loves Jesus, but hasn’t set foot in a church in quite some time. I really feel like I need to invite these guys to come to church. I know, I’m reducing evangelism to inviting someone to church and that it’s so much more than that…But, this is a starting point.
Matthew 9:37-38 says, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Would you join me in heading out to the harvest field? Will you be one of the workers that helps reap the plentiful harvest? Share your faith…invite someone to church or a Bible study…get involved in evangelism…or whatever area of obeying God that you tend to overlook.