You Wouldn't Do That In Real Life

Think about the person you married. How well do you know that person before you made the commitment to marry? Did you try to learn as much about that person as possible, or were you satisfied with, “Okay, so, we've met, let's get married”?

2^nd Peter 3:18 says, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Grow. Learn. Get to know. Become like.

Why is it that so many people think that being a follower of Jesus begins and ends with a prayer of confession and maybe baptism?

Or let me ask these questions. Do you know what a dog is? Do you know what they like to eat? What they like to do for fun? How they breed? What kinds of dogs there are? How about if they can swim? So you know a lot about dogs, right? Does that make you a dog?

Of course not. Just so, knowing a lot about Jesus does not make you a Christian. Visiting a kennel doesn't make you a dog and faithfully attending a Church doesn't make you a Christian. 

Becoming a Christian is when, after knowing and understanding the payment for sin that Jesus has made for every human on earth, knowing about what is expected of you and the cost you will bear for becoming a follower of Jesus, as well as knowing the consequences of both accepting and rejecting His offer of forgiveness, you consciously decide to turn your back on sin, humbly accept God's assessment of your thoroughly and utterly sinful nature, you ask for forgiveness and invite the very Spirit of the living God to take over your life.

Being a Christian is each and every day listening to and for and then following the guidance and correction of God's Spirit. Being a Christian is living life as Jesus would live live if He was in your circumstances. Being a Christian means that the Spirit which lives within you changes and transforms your thoughts and behaviours.

You wouldn't consider your relationship with your husband or wife a good relationship if you just skimmed the surface of human experience day after day.

Real life Christianity involves an intimate, healed and forgiven relationship with the Creator of the Universe and that relationship is personal, on-going and ever growing. If your relationship with Jesus is not becoming more intimate, if you cannot look back and know that you are closer to God today than you were a year ago, then the relationship is moving toward the inevitable break that comes with pretending to be what you never were.