In preparing for a fireside that I did last night I found some thoughts that I wrote back on February 1, 2006 to a couple friends of mine after a deep lunch conversation about religious devotion.
Where there is light there cannot be dark and yet we seem to want somewhere in between. If we believe in a Creator that requires obedience to His laws to live with Him again eternally, and we desire to be with Him, would we not dedicate our lives to the pursuit of salvation? Is life’s secret then doing what one loves or loving what one must do to gain salvation? Can we not have both? Must we be always torn between what is required by God’s laws and what we want to enjoy on this earth alone? Why must we feel that to enjoy this mortal life, we must risk our eternal one? Is it possible to find complete and absolute enjoyment on this earth while at the same time living in accordance with God’s commandments securing our eternal life with Him?
I feel impressed to seek an answer to these questions. It has been said that if we seek for any other thing in this life other that God, in the end it makes no difference what we seek instead. With that in mind, I would want you to think for a moment what your tallest priority in your life is. Priority is to be defined as what you spend most of your thoughts, time, talents, and passions towards. If God is not your priority, what rewards will your current priority in life bring you? Most do not wish to truly answer that question because normally the answer is an indication of a selfish, self-serving life style that is not pretty to come to grips with. Taking your spiritual temperature is not a comfortable thing to do but necessary while in the pursuit of salvation. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Do you really believe that your God is a rewarder of those that live within His laws? By way of our acts our desires are shown. Thus indicating that if we truly believed that we had a chance to live with our Creator we would act accordingly and also proving that the reason we would not live accordingly is because we do not truly believe that heaven is a reality or more simply put…we do not have the faith required to return and live with our Father in Heaven again.
I feel impressed to seek an answer to these questions. It has been said that if we seek for any other thing in this life other that God, in the end it makes no difference what we seek instead. With that in mind, I would want you to think for a moment what your tallest priority in your life is. Priority is to be defined as what you spend most of your thoughts, time, talents, and passions towards. If God is not your priority, what rewards will your current priority in life bring you? Most do not wish to truly answer that question because normally the answer is an indication of a selfish, self-serving life style that is not pretty to come to grips with. Taking your spiritual temperature is not a comfortable thing to do but necessary while in the pursuit of salvation. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Do you really believe that your God is a rewarder of those that live within His laws? By way of our acts our desires are shown. Thus indicating that if we truly believed that we had a chance to live with our Creator we would act accordingly and also proving that the reason we would not live accordingly is because we do not truly believe that heaven is a reality or more simply put…we do not have the faith required to return and live with our Father in Heaven again.
I feel that most of us have good times and bad in respect towards our faith in God and what is required of us, which is why I feel that we tend to go back and forth from being the believer to the unbeliever. Our goal should be to find within ourselves the strength to continually side ourselves with God more than we do with His adversary. We can not be satisfied with remaining where we are at this moment spiritually or we risk losing our conviction which can only be maintained by a constant progression towards heaven. If we remain still, our “spiritual” muscles become complacent and weak therefore leaving us ill prepared for what challenges we face next in our battle and struggle towards heaven.
