Fear or Love?

Why do you follow Christ?

I was thinking about this the other day. So many people have heard the sermon of fire, and few the sermon of love.

Do we accept Christ into our heart solely to avoid the fires of hell? Or because we love Him and want to make Him the rightful Lord of our life?

Do we proclaim Jesus because He is the only way? Or because He is the only One worth following?

So many times, we hear phrases such as “make Heaven crowded”. But the goal of the follower of Christ has to be more than Heaven. The goal of the believer is to pick up their cross and follow Jesus. To walk and breathe and live and love with Him. To honor and serve and obey and glorify Him. To boldly go where He leads and love who He sets before us. To be the light of the world, and not just a name in the book of life.

When we as Christians, make our faith a mere checklist to get to Heaven, we short change ourselves and also God.

The One who made you and saved you has more plans than for you to say a prayer, go to church, and go to Heaven. There are lives to touch, people to pray for, strongholds to break, wisdom to gain, and hearts to turn towards the saving and transformative power of Christ.

God doesn’t just want you in Heaven, He wants you to look like Christ. For the original design of mankind created in the image of God to be restored in its fullness. To not just claim Christ, but be Christ in the world. To not just pray to God, but to pray with the heart of God. To not just walk the streets of gold one day, but to bring our brothers and sisters home.

It is the transformation of Christ in the lives of others and in your life that will lead the lost to Jesus. People will see how God changed your life and your heart. They will wonder how you are a new person.

We don’t need to scare people into Heaven. We need to share our testimony and give the lost hope that their stories can change too. They can live a life that is more than the one they have been living.

Before they ever stand before the gates of eternity.

Walking with you,

Jasmine