(The last few days, I have been re-reading some old posts, and have found that the truths in them, continue to convict and challenge me. So, I have decided to spend the next week or so, on a "From the Archives" series. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! This particular post was originally published on May 25, 2011)
Yesterday afternoon I finished reading "In His Steps" by Charles Sheldon, and I started thinking about modern Christianity. It seems that so many of us Christians today borrow our faith. And by that I mean, we use the faith of someone else, or the faith that we used to have, to cover up the gaps in our present faith. We have so much knowledge today about how to be a great Christian, how to walk as Christ walked, and how to talk as He talked, and yet there is a surprising shortage of people who actually do.
I'm guilty of this myself! I know all the right words to say and the all the proper things to do, but I often don't allow my heart to be changed by the wisdom that I glean from others. I substitute a passion for Christ, with a shallow excitement for the thrilling aspect of doing things for Him. And the knowledge that I have of God, comes not from intense hours spent in His presence, but information I have obtained from other peoples experience of Him. While it is good to hear and be inspired by what other people have to say, it is wrong to substitute their words, for the words of the Father.
So the question I have is this: What if we as Christians began laying aside the words of others, and learned to listen to the words of our King, applying them to our lives, without thought to the personal cost? That question may never be answered until we ourselves muster the courage to know Christ, and stop borrowing our faith.
Yesterday afternoon I finished reading "In His Steps" by Charles Sheldon, and I started thinking about modern Christianity. It seems that so many of us Christians today borrow our faith. And by that I mean, we use the faith of someone else, or the faith that we used to have, to cover up the gaps in our present faith. We have so much knowledge today about how to be a great Christian, how to walk as Christ walked, and how to talk as He talked, and yet there is a surprising shortage of people who actually do.
I'm guilty of this myself! I know all the right words to say and the all the proper things to do, but I often don't allow my heart to be changed by the wisdom that I glean from others. I substitute a passion for Christ, with a shallow excitement for the thrilling aspect of doing things for Him. And the knowledge that I have of God, comes not from intense hours spent in His presence, but information I have obtained from other peoples experience of Him. While it is good to hear and be inspired by what other people have to say, it is wrong to substitute their words, for the words of the Father.
So the question I have is this: What if we as Christians began laying aside the words of others, and learned to listen to the words of our King, applying them to our lives, without thought to the personal cost? That question may never be answered until we ourselves muster the courage to know Christ, and stop borrowing our faith.
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