Real Faith is not for Wimps
Imagine hanging from the edge of a jagged cliff. Your fingers are numb as you cling for dear
life, and you don’t think you can hang on much longer. Just then, you hear the thump-thump-thump of
a helicopter over head, and looking up, you see a man zipping down on a
cable. As the rescuer, Jesus, arrives,
relief overwhelms you—“I’m saved!” Jesus
extends his arms and shouts instructions for you to let go of the cliff. Now here’s the tricky part—you know in your
mind that you must let go in order to be saved, but actually letting go is the
hard part. Compromising, you hang on
with one hand, and reach for Jesus with the other. Jesus locks hands with you, but shakes his
head and calmly instructs that unless you let go, he cannot not take you anywhere. In those agonizing seconds, you weigh your
options—“I either hang on to this cliff for as long as I can, or I let go and
let Jesus carry me.” Though the right
choice seems obvious from a distance, it’s not easy when we’re the one clinging
to the cliff.
In (insert word here) we trust…
As Pastor Rich takes us through the book of James,
we are reminded that God can’t stand divided loyalty (James 1:22-25). If we say we trust Jesus, and but still trust
in other things, we’re only fooling ourselves.
And what do we cling to? For some,
it may be their money and belongings. Some
trust in conventional wisdom and education of the world. Some trust in their own gifts and skills. Some rely on family and friends. And the list goes on and on.
James pulls no punches. The faith that God requires is not a
comfortable, “warm-fuzzy” belief in God.
It is complete and all-consuming and is evidenced by our actions. I used to think that expressing my faith
meant performing a certain number of “good deeds”—help a little old lady carry
her groceries, let a car merge in front of me on the freeway, or return
someone’s lost wallet, etc. What if the
action that God requires of me is complete and total surrender?
If we are serious about growing spiritually, we have
to let go of everything but God. As
Jonathan Fung put it, “You have to let go, in order to grow!” So let’s stop kidding ourselves at
SCFBC—either we back up what we say we believe with action, or we admit that our
faith is dead.
This week, please pray and ask God
to show you anything that you cling to that keeps you from clinging to him.
Search me, O God, and
know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Ps.
139:23-24
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