“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21 NKJV)

Question: How does one recognize the difference between a true Christian and a person who merely makes a profession to Christianity?

Answer: By their reaction to the truth as it is in Jesus Christ!

The Bible tells us that a “time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4 NKJV)

Can we not see this happening today? I see it!

Indeed, there are some who take the Word of God as it is and thus allow it to transform their lives according to His will, and there are many who read the Bible selectively, deciding for themselves what they will accept as coming from God, while throwing out or ignoring those portions of it that don’t agree with what they think it should say. Those who take God’s word as it is do so wisely, but those who read it selectively do so to their own peril, because the Bible makes it clear that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV)

You see, the Bible isn’t meant to be received by God’s people in a selective manner, as if to treat it as though it were simply book that contains helpful advice for living that could either be accepted or rejected on a whim; rather, it is the inspired Word of God, and therefore deserves our utmost respect. And if anyone desires to walk with God, they must discard all of their preconceived notions of what they think He is and let The Holy Scriptures reveal to them what they ought to know about Him.

Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of people these days that are willing to take the Bible seriously, at least not all of it anyway. In other words, they are willing to change, but only when change doesn’t require that they have to give up too much of what they hold dear to their hearts. Such people think that they know God, but they are actually running away from Him. But then there are those who have cast all of their worldly possessions at the feet of Jesus Christ; they hold nothing back from Him, but give Him the homage that He deserves in everything. Hence, the first group wants God’s gifts but they don’t want to use them to His glory and thus be conformed to His image, while the latter eagerly dedicate all that they have to God, so that they may be used for His service in Love. Which group do you think you belong to?

Listen, if we truly have a desire to serve God we won’t show it by worshiping Him in bits and pieces; instead, we will take in everything that He desires to give us while answering to His high calling for us to rise up and become all that He would have us to be now and forever. Do you want to give all that you have to God? Do you desire to serve Him in everything? If this is what we truly want, then we won’t waste another moment of time entertaining self-centered notions of what we think we ought to be; rather, we will invite God to tell us who we are and where we need to go to allow Him to work out His good will in and through us forever and ever. Amen!

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