The following post is from this past November but I did change the title:
The Christian walk is difficult, most of us can agree on that. From the earlier days to the latter days there is a challenging, to say the least, array of twists and turns. There are so many of them that it doesn't really matter that some Christians are exposed to certain trials while others may experience a completely different set of difficulties for there's plenty of roadblocks to go around and detours to navigate.
I know for a fact that this is not a matter of survival of the fittest, the most determined or the most faithful, for if it was I would have fallen in the valley of the shadow of death long ago. The new Christian has to know this.....and I have to remind myself of this often. In the course of evangelizing, an honest inquirer, if that inquirer is properly evangelized, he is surely going to know that this pilgrimage is going to be difficult to say the least.
We trust in God not because we are gullible people. We trust in God because from the very beginning He proved Himself. The burden of our sin was off of our backs as His Word said that it would be. The joy has been consistent and increasing, non-existent only when we ourselves depart for a time from God. The Bible, God's very words to us, remains and will always remain, full of mysteries and hard to conceptualize passages....but at the same time we will be given more in the way of clarity as time goes on!
Let me take a guess at where you are at. You would like this Christian thing to be true but it would take a lot of proof before you would commit yourself. Consider two meetings that Jesus had with individuals....almost one right after another. In the first a rich young ruler, probably a very nice young man, asks Jesus what he would have to do for eternal salvation. You probably know the answer that Jesus gave.....sell everything and give it all to the poor. Shortly after this Zacchaeus appears. I picture him looking like Taxi's Louie De Palma. Jesus is walking by and Zacchaeus wants to see him but can't so he climbs a tree. Jesus calls him down and says that he wants to eat at his home that night....Zacchaeus got excited and later told Jesus "I'll give half of what I own to the poor..." Jesus responds positively to him. What's up with this? Jesus drives a hard bargain with with a nice young man and then goes easy on a crooked tax collector who only promises to give half.
Are you the rich young man my friend. It doesn't matter if you have money or not, if you are asking for worldly proof then you will wind up walking away sad like the rich young ruler did. This young man wanted to follow Jesus but did not trust in Him. Zacchaeus is Louie....not exactly someone you want your daughter to marry. Friend, the proof comes later...the change will come later....trust is to come first. Louie...excuse me....Zacchaeus....crooked tax collector that he was....trusted in Jesus that everything would be all right. The rich young ruler on the other hand... loved his riches...yes....but he also did not trust in Jesus that everything would be all right.
Peter trusted and began to walk on the water, then his trust wavered and he began to sink. When our trust in Christ today is transferred to trust in government and politics then we also will begin to sink when we see our predicament. Matthew Henry commented that Jesus was not only displaying His power to Peter but was making Peter aware of his own weaknesses. He added that we are often allowed to follow our own choices in order to humble us in our error. If you read this passage beginning at Matthew 14:25 from biblehub.com you can scroll down for Matthew Henry's commentary.
Psalm 91:2 "I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress; in Him will I trust."
The Christian walk is difficult, most of us can agree on that. From the earlier days to the latter days there is a challenging, to say the least, array of twists and turns. There are so many of them that it doesn't really matter that some Christians are exposed to certain trials while others may experience a completely different set of difficulties for there's plenty of roadblocks to go around and detours to navigate.
I know for a fact that this is not a matter of survival of the fittest, the most determined or the most faithful, for if it was I would have fallen in the valley of the shadow of death long ago. The new Christian has to know this.....and I have to remind myself of this often. In the course of evangelizing, an honest inquirer, if that inquirer is properly evangelized, he is surely going to know that this pilgrimage is going to be difficult to say the least.
We trust in God not because we are gullible people. We trust in God because from the very beginning He proved Himself. The burden of our sin was off of our backs as His Word said that it would be. The joy has been consistent and increasing, non-existent only when we ourselves depart for a time from God. The Bible, God's very words to us, remains and will always remain, full of mysteries and hard to conceptualize passages....but at the same time we will be given more in the way of clarity as time goes on!
Let me take a guess at where you are at. You would like this Christian thing to be true but it would take a lot of proof before you would commit yourself. Consider two meetings that Jesus had with individuals....almost one right after another. In the first a rich young ruler, probably a very nice young man, asks Jesus what he would have to do for eternal salvation. You probably know the answer that Jesus gave.....sell everything and give it all to the poor. Shortly after this Zacchaeus appears. I picture him looking like Taxi's Louie De Palma. Jesus is walking by and Zacchaeus wants to see him but can't so he climbs a tree. Jesus calls him down and says that he wants to eat at his home that night....Zacchaeus got excited and later told Jesus "I'll give half of what I own to the poor..." Jesus responds positively to him. What's up with this? Jesus drives a hard bargain with with a nice young man and then goes easy on a crooked tax collector who only promises to give half.
Are you the rich young man my friend. It doesn't matter if you have money or not, if you are asking for worldly proof then you will wind up walking away sad like the rich young ruler did. This young man wanted to follow Jesus but did not trust in Him. Zacchaeus is Louie....not exactly someone you want your daughter to marry. Friend, the proof comes later...the change will come later....trust is to come first. Louie...excuse me....Zacchaeus....crooked tax collector that he was....trusted in Jesus that everything would be all right. The rich young ruler on the other hand... loved his riches...yes....but he also did not trust in Jesus that everything would be all right.
Peter trusted and began to walk on the water, then his trust wavered and he began to sink. When our trust in Christ today is transferred to trust in government and politics then we also will begin to sink when we see our predicament. Matthew Henry commented that Jesus was not only displaying His power to Peter but was making Peter aware of his own weaknesses. He added that we are often allowed to follow our own choices in order to humble us in our error. If you read this passage beginning at Matthew 14:25 from biblehub.com you can scroll down for Matthew Henry's commentary.
Psalm 91:2 "I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress; in Him will I trust."
