If you have been a Christian for any length of time, I'm sure that you have heard someone say on at least one occasion that the Christian life is not a check list, not a bunch of boxes that you have to complete before you can get into Heaven. And that's true. I am by no means trying to downplay the significance of a real, living, breathing relationship with the Creator of the Universe.
But let's play devil's advocate here for a second. What if, hypothetically speaking, we DID have a checklist to complete? What if there really WERE things that God wanted us to do as a part of our relationship with Him?
If that was the case, what areas would you fail to check? Would your failure to use your God-given tools of revival - prayer and God's Word - be found to be hindering your spiritual growth? Would your pride and inability to confess sin be a hindrance to God moving in your life? Would your lack of obedience to God and honestly to others be a stumbling block? Or would your uncheck box be something simple, something as basic as your reluctance to truly repent from your sins and ask for salvation by placing your trust in Jesus Christ?
It's true that your life should not be a checklist...but it should be a constantly changing, growing life. If you are stuck in the same old patterns, and not seeing any growth in your life, there's a problem. Take the time today to pray and ask God to show you where the points of stubbornness and stagnation are in your life. And keep praying, keep coming before Him on your knees, until He has rooted out the evil in your heart. C.H. Spurgeon said that "If your faith does not make you pray, have nothing to do with it. Get rid of it, and God help thee to begin again." How much praying have you done lately?
But let's play devil's advocate here for a second. What if, hypothetically speaking, we DID have a checklist to complete? What if there really WERE things that God wanted us to do as a part of our relationship with Him?
If that was the case, what areas would you fail to check? Would your failure to use your God-given tools of revival - prayer and God's Word - be found to be hindering your spiritual growth? Would your pride and inability to confess sin be a hindrance to God moving in your life? Would your lack of obedience to God and honestly to others be a stumbling block? Or would your uncheck box be something simple, something as basic as your reluctance to truly repent from your sins and ask for salvation by placing your trust in Jesus Christ?
It's true that your life should not be a checklist...but it should be a constantly changing, growing life. If you are stuck in the same old patterns, and not seeing any growth in your life, there's a problem. Take the time today to pray and ask God to show you where the points of stubbornness and stagnation are in your life. And keep praying, keep coming before Him on your knees, until He has rooted out the evil in your heart. C.H. Spurgeon said that "If your faith does not make you pray, have nothing to do with it. Get rid of it, and God help thee to begin again." How much praying have you done lately?
Psalm 28
1 To you, LORD, I call;
you are my Rock,
do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent,
I will be like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear my cry for mercy
as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your Most Holy Place.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors
but harbor malice in their hearts.
4 Repay them for their deeds
and for their evil work;
repay them for what their hands have done
and bring back on them what they deserve.
5 Because they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD
and what his hands have done,
he will tear them down
and never build them up again.
6 Praise be to the LORD,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
7 The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.
8 The LORD is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
9 Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.
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