Our faith will cost us something – Part III

Rev Dwight Fletcher

Anything of real value costs us something. This cost could be our time, our energy, our reputation, our comfort, and so much more. Any significant relationship in our lives will cost us – and the same is true of our relationship with God. In the same way that we can’t have a successful marriage with someone if we don’t make an effort, we can’t grow in our faith or have a successful relationship with God without work. We can’t be passive about it – we have to be active and engaged. This month, we began looking at spiritual passivity and what causes it. We need to be aware of what can make us passive so that we can remove it from our lives and stay committed to God.

1. Spiritual passivity can result from a good thing

Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, and yet his reign did not end well. He asked God for wisdom, and God gave him in abundance. God also gave him wealth and fame that exceeded anyone in his time. It is clear that he was blessed abundantly. Yet, in response to this good thing, Solomon took 700 wives and 300 concubines from nations outside of Israel and allowed them to worship other gods. They convinced him to join them in the worship of those gods, and his spiritual life crashed. Solomon knew that this was evil in the eyes of the Lord, but he became spiritually passive. Sometimes too much of a good thing can pull you away from the Lord. Solomon concluded in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (NIV) “… here is the conclusion of the matter: (this is what life is all about) Fear God and keep his commandments ... .”

Like Solomon, God has blessed us in many ways, but if we don’t get deliberate and purposeful about our life, we can wreck our lives and the lives of others.

What good thing do we have in our lives that is coming in the way of our complete surrender to the Lord? Is it financial stability, educational achievement, good looks, a dream job? Repent today, and remind yourself that everything God gifts us is to be used for God’s glory.

2. Spiritual passivity can result from the love of this world

In the Bible, there was a man named Demas who was a missionary with the Apostle Paul on his trips. Paul calls him a “fellow labourer”, and it seems that at one time, this man was zealous about God. Yet passivity destroyed his faith. In 2 Timothy 4:9-10 (NIV), Paul wrote “… Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica.”

There is much to enjoy in this world, and if we are not careful, we will end up loving this world in a way that God did not intend. Remember, we are always called to love the people in this world, but to love this world means to accept and support the beliefs, mindsets, and culture of sin and wickedness in this world.

God has not called us to do this, and when we do, we live in spiritual passivity. Instead, let us receive the anointing of God that comes with the power of His Holy Spirit and authority over the enemy, and take the battle to the enemy!

Passivity never ends in God’s best, it never happens. We have to determine that we are not going to stay where we are. Instead, we are going to get up and move in the direction that God has ordained for us. Today, let us decide once again, or for some of us for the first time, to choose Jesus, choose obedience, choose to grow, and choose to serve!