Into the Fire

I’ve been a Christian for over 31 years. Wow. Since I came to know Jesus as an adult, readers will note I’m not young anymore. My brain might be stuck in my late 30s at times, but my body clearly has been advancing day by day with the calendar.

Many of you became Christians at early ages. Some of you grew up under the umbrella of a Christian family or the church. A few of you who did strayed wildly and then returned to the One who drew you back to Himself, or the other few of you walked in complacency until something or someone shocked you back into your spiritual reality.

Let me tell you a little of what I’ve observed along the way. Some Christians are as excited about the Lord as they are about going to work on Monday mornings. Some Christians secretly (or so they think) regret they’ve never experienced what the world has to offer so they make concessions in their walk in order to accommodate some of those desires. Some Christians perform their faith for others to see and maintain a legalistic approach to every aspect of their denomination, making it all about religion and little about relationship with Jesus. Some Christians arm themselves with a pseudo-grace in order to enable themselves and others to harbor sin and condone what they want to be okay in direct opposition to the gospel message. Some Christians manipulate the Scriptures to use them to pave the way for their hoped-for lifestyles. Some Christians have little knowledge of what the Bible really says about much of anything and choose to participate in the things they like in their respective churches, ignoring the rest of biblical truth.

What I’ve learned throughout the years can be summed up in I have no idea how big, how great, how unique, how perfect, how beyond what any man can say, describe, or articulate is God. Though He will not violate His word, He is not bound to man’s feeble interpretations of its parts. Yet there are undeniable and unmistakable necessities within His word which will not be compromised by man’s sinful desires to expand its meanings or promises. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no man comes to the Father except through Him. Period. Unmovable. God’s definition of sin will not be changed or deferred or manipulated.

Having participated in much of what the world offers, I can testify the results of that participation leave one empty. Maybe not for a season, but eventually the hollow rewards turn to dust and the effects cause a search for a deeper experience, one that will anchor a vapid soul to something other than a fake prop that crumbles under the weight of examination.

I only realize the longer I live the less I know, the more vital the Lord becomes to my well-being, the more unattainable the words to depict Him, the more heavily I press into Him, and the more powerful in Him I wish to become by leaning and depending on Him alone.

Lord God Almighty, please help me to do this. I’m desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.