Repentance

When Nehemiah surveyed the city of Jerusalem to assess the damage, it could have been overwhelming to him to try and imagine how he was going to accomplish such a momentous task. But instead of letting fear control him, he rallied the people of Jerusalem to work together to rebuild the walls and the gates. Every family worked on the section of wall that was directly in front of their own neighborhood. Slowly and steadily the walls and gates were rebuilt by a community of like-minded people.

They prayed to the Lord for protection but, because their enemies wanted to thwart their efforts, they stationed look outs to keep watch day and night. God expects us to be practical; He wants us to talk to Him, asking for the things we need to survive but He also expects us to put rubber on the road.

The late J. Vernon McGee use to say that someone sitting in a lawn chair looking at his car in the driveway, thinking about going to church will never actually get to church unless he gets up and gets into his car and drives there. Our salvation is kind of like that where just thinking about Jesus is not enough. Indeed it’s the first step towards salvation but unless we put our trust in Christ, believe and put our faith in Him, we will just be sitting in our lawn chair going nowhere.

I sat in church for much of my adult life. I have been a worship leader, bible study leader and an associate pastor. Much of what goes on in our modern day evangelical settings is like the man sitting in the lawn chair on his front lawn thinking about getting to church. Folks, until we repent and clear the rubbish out of our lives we can’t be holy and set apart for God’s use.

You can’t live like hell and expect to land in heaven. True salvation is a gift from God and we can’t earn, purchase or work for it. However once we put our trust in Christ, we are new creatures. The old man passes away and we are “Born Again”. We have to repent and turn our lives over to God. We need to allow God access to the secret places in our minds and take steps towards a life that reflects God’s will.

I believe many sitting in church on Sundays are fooling themselves into thinking that they are saved when their lives are full of habitual sin and they are not making an effort to change. Going inside McDonalds doesn’t make you a hamburger so why should going to church make you a Christian?

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2.

The bible teaches that we all need to evaluate our lives, how we live, the way we treat our loved ones and especially the way we treat each other. We must put off the old man and turn towards God, living in a way that is pleasing to Him. Jesus use to say of the religious leaders of His day that they were like whitewashed tombs that are full of dead men’s bones. He went on to say that they took pride making sure the outside of the cup was clean but the inside of it was full of filth.

Just like in Nehemiah’s day, we all need to work together to build up God’s kingdom. We need to not be so concerned about keeping up appearances but rather in  making sure that our hearts are clean. The bible also teaches that it’s not what goes into a man that defiles him but rather what comes out of his heart. God’s Holy Spirit will help us to break addictions that bind us from moving closer to Him. If we are to be filled with the Spirit ready to use by God to build up His kingdom then we must empty our cups of all filth.

You see, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and God has prepared good works for us to do if we will only surrender to Him. Every one of you who truly hears the Shepherd’s voice is a living stone that God is building His kingdom with. Let us encourage each other to good works as the Day draws near!