It’s hard to imagine what the disciples of Jesus must have felt after his pep talk prior to sending them out on their first preaching mission. To be honest, it wasn’t really a pep talk as much as a reality check. For a good year or so the disciples had been witnessing both the preaching and healing power of Christ. Now he was sending them out for a short time to do the same. What could be more exciting? But then came Jesus’ warning. “People are going to try to stop you by any means. They’ll even try to kill you. And in some cases, they will succeed. Even your family members may turn against you.” Talk about dreams of glory being shattered!
Like a bride and groom on their wedding day imagining their future life of harmonious marital bliss, the disciples forgot that the whole reason the Son of God became a human being was to be the decisive force in the ongoing war which has been raging since the Garden of Eden. It’s a war we often can’t see but experience on a minute by minute basis. It is a war between two powers we can’t begin to imagine. It is a war with eternal consequences. Above all, it is a war Jesus Christ came to win.
And win the war he did when he shouted from the cross, “It is finished.” Sin was paid for. Satan defeated. But the permanent and total outcomes of that victory won’t be visible until he comes again on Judgment Day. Until then, while victorious in Jesus, we must fight daily the attacks of evil and Satan. It is something we all too often take far too lightly. We underestimate the deceptiveness of temptation and we overrate our ability to resist. In short, we get complacent. We find ourselves resisting the discipline of the Christian life. We just aren’t serious about our daily life as a follower of Christ.
In a less than subtle manner, Jesus blows us out of the water of our false sense of spiritual security, blasting the message, “Get serious about your relationship with me!” in a variety of shocking ways. As long as you and I are breathing, there is no time for unfocused living. The purpose of human life, according to Jesus, is to receive him as our Savior and Lord in this life so that we may experience eternal life with him. Between now and the moment we see Jesus face to face, our attitude toward the war for our souls can be nothing less than the most serious.
If being a Christian feels a little like being a part of a club, join us for one of our weekend services. It’s good to be serious more often than we think.
Weekend worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm – Sunday:
10:00 am
