If you want to successfully be a true follower of Jesus, someone who dedicates their entire life to His purposes, I have found there is only one thing you need to do. To love Him with all your heart and to find success in life requires one simple lifestyle change. The key to successful living then is to consistently decide to do the right thing, to intentionally choose to do that which brings you closer to your goal, not further away. It’s simple, but not easy, to accomplish this in your life. It merely requires discipline and a conscious choice to do so.
Much is Expected
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Luke 12:48, which says, “Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.” I feel like I have been given much, and perhaps even more than that. Chances are you are in the same boat as I am. I’ve referenced the site before, but in case you are a new reader, check out the Global Rich List web site. Simply type in your income to see where you rank among the rest of the world. My guess is you will see that you have indeed been given much.
Living in the Kingdom of God
Most Christians feel confident that when they die, they will then enter Heaven and find joy everlasting. This is, after all, what they believe they have been promised in Scripture. What they do between now and then is of little consequence to the final result. Once they accept Jesus into their hearts, they are then guaranteed a peaceful and secure eternity. Nothing they do – or don’t do for that matter – can disqualify them from their promised rest. I don’t know about you, but this seems like a strange plan for a God who desires nothing more than to be in relationship with us. There is an inconsistency in thinking we could say a prayer once and gain His eternal favor even though we ignore Him with the rest of our lives. How do we reconcile these things?
Running Out of Time
I write a lot on this topic, but from what I see in my own life and the lives of the Church at large, we’re simply not getting it. We are running out of time. Every moment we spend engaged in doing something other than for the Kingdom is a moment forever lost. It’s a moment that might just cost someone their eternal salvation. While we are content to watch the latest movie, surf the web, check Facebook, or feed our faces, time is ticking off the clock forever.
Putting God First
Ask almost any Christian at church on Sunday what their priorities are, and they will instinctively tell you that God is first and family second. Saying so simply does not make it true. If God were first in the lives of all who proclaimed to know Him, our world would not be in the mess it is today. For that matter, if family was indeed the second priority, we would not find the divorce rate among Christians to be statistically the same as that of non-Christians (The Christian Post). We have been taught what we’re supposed to say, but there is an absolute disconnect between our lips and our reality.