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A few years ago, I decided to go snorkelling. I'm not sure if I just wanted to impress my girlfriend by showing her that I could swim or simply had nothing much to live for at the time. Either way, I remember it was a beautiful day in Hawaii.
I remember her asking if I wanted to start off on the shallow end, but I didn't see the point in snorkelling with only my knees in the water. Unfortunately, we proceeded to enter the deep end of the sea with around 50 feet of water beneath us. Everything was going fine at first, but then I thought to myself, "There has to be sharks under me."
That's when I lost it! Doggy paddling as fast as I could to get back on land, I'm sure even Michael Phelps would've been impressed that day. I remember her trying her best not to laugh, but she couldn't help it.
Finally, after 5 minutes of drooling impulsively from laughter, she says, "I thought you said you could swim." It turns out, I had confused standing in the shallow end of the pool at parties for swimming.
As pathetic as this was, I can't help but think that this incident represents a majority of Christians. Most of time as Christians, we claim to have great faith without actually ever really doing anything.
"8 These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me. 9 Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men." - Matthew 15:8-9 AMPC
We have minimised the standard of "great faith" to just hoping our cholesterol goes down while we continue to take truck loads of medicine.
A question comes to mind. Why would God say "Walk By Faith" if He never intended on us going anywhere or doing anything?
"6 Thus Abraham believed in and adhered to and trusted in and relied on God, and it was reckoned and placed to his account and credited as righteousness (as conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action). 7 Know and understand that it is [really] the people [who live] by faith who are [the true] sons of Abraham." - Galatians 3:6-7 AMPC
Is it possible to really believe in God if your own beliefs never actually convince you to make decisions outside of human understanding and reasoning?
"19 You believe that God is one; you do well. So do the demons believe and shudder [in terror and horror such as make a man’s hair stand on end and contract the surface of his skin]! 20 Are you willing to be shown [proof], you foolish (unproductive, spiritually deficient) fellow, that faith apart from [good] works is inactive and ineffective and worthless?" - James 2:19-20 AMPC
I must admit, I am a college dropout. But I believe in order to "walk" by faith we have to actually go somewhere unfamiliar.
"18 But someone will say [to you then], You [say you] have faith, and I have [good] works. Now you show me your [alleged] faith apart from any [good] works [if you can], and I by [good] works [of obedience] will show you my faith." - James 2:18 AMPC
I've noticed that we claim to be followers of Jesus, but we never actually leave our man cave.
Honestly, the question that keeps coming up lately is, what actually is a christian? Is it the person that goes to church and dreams of KFC right after? Or am I on my way to heaven becasue I am a part of the parking lot special forces security team? It seems that no one really has an answer.
"I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship." - Romans 12:1 AMPC
Is it possible to believe in Jesus, but never take one step out of the status quo enforced by society? We see what having faith in Jesus empowered people to do in Hebrews 11. Is that the example of true faith we should all be following?
"6 But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]." - Hebrews 11:6 AMPC
The sad reality is that most of us don't know God, but as long as we don't do anything outside of the ordinary, we can keep up the lie that we are best friends of His.
"54 Jesus answered, If I were to glorify Myself (magnify, praise, and honor Myself), I would have no real glory, for My glory would be nothing and worthless. [My honor must come to Me from My Father.] It is My Father Who glorifies Me [Who extols Me, magnifies, and praises Me], of Whom you say that He is your God. 55 Yet you do not know Him or recognize Him and are not acquainted with Him, but I know Him. If I should say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I know Him and keep His word [obey His teachings, am faithful to His message]." - John 8:54-55 AMPC
Question of the Day: If your weight loss depended on your spiritual steps of faith, would you be obese?