The "On the Clock" Christian

Most of us have been to jobs where you have to "clock in" when you get to work. For those that haven't, I think we can all agree when you are scheduled to be working you are using company time. In almost any work environment, many of us realize that there are people that try to cheat the system. Co-workers wasting company time and robbing their employers by taking extra and extended breaks, being lazy, talking on the cell phone, etc.
However, I think that many may be unaware that people that go by the name of Christian do the same thing to God. I call these "On the Clock" Christians, people that claim the name of Christ and then try to cheat God. How many of us have been "On the Clock" Christians? We may wake up in the morning and "clock in" with God and do our 30 minutes of reading and prayer and then we "clock out". Or maybe we go to all our bible studies, prayer meetings, and church during the week THEN we feel have put in our time with God. We do these things where we give God a small portion of our day, or an alloted time during the week, to ease our conscience and make ourselves feel better that we made room for God.
How many people just do not get it! Christianity is not about making room for God. Christianity is about giving up all for God, and letting Him be in control of all that we do so that "in all we do, in word or deed, we do ALL to the glory of God". We cannot be Christians for one hour a day, or 3 days a week. That is not a Christian at all. Our lives are to be a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing unto God. Is the Lord who gave His life for you only worthy of an hour a day? It ultimately boils down to your heart motive. If you are an "On the Clock" Christian, then you have not given control over to God. You are still master of parts of your life. You cannot serve two masters .... Christ must have your heart! Once Christ has your heart, it will be your desire to be in His presence .... to give Him your all .... to please Him morning, noon, and night.
There is no greater joy or purpose than giving Christ the throne of your heart and letting Him rule your life. No more "making time" for God to ease your conscience. You don't have to because you are no longer your own, you were bought with a price. All you have is now God's and all your time is God's. No more "duty" in reading the Bible and doing devotions. These things that were once duties turn into desires. Serving others, prayer, worship, reading .... all the things that are a grind for the "On the Clock" Christian now simply come naturally out of a heart that is totally surrendered to Christ.
Let us make sure that Christ is not a duty that we attend to as an "On the Clock" Christian. But let Him be the Lord of our life, who we serve naturally out of a thankful heart as "On fire" Christians .... willing to give all for the Lord who has given all for us. How can we ever re-pay? How can we ever express in words the gifts He has so freely given? Let us give back to a God that is worthy than so much more than we can give. Let us not insult the Lord by giving him a spot on our calender. If you have been an "On the Clock" Christian, examine yourself and see where you need to change ... and in the areas where you still sit on the throne, give them over to Christ and let Him rule your life.

Fattened ... Part Deux

After my last post, I continued reading through "The Challenge of Missions" by Oswald J. Smith and found that he talked about the ideas mentioned in my last post. So, I thought I'd share what he had to say about the topic. In chapter 7, he talks about his trip to Palestine and getting the chance to swim in the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and the Sea of Galilee.
And he says, "I thought of the difference between the two bodies of water; one, the Sea of Galilee, teeming with life, and the other, the Dead Sea, stagnant and lifeless. 'Why', I asked myself, 'the difference?'
The Dead Sea takes in and takes in, but it never gives out; hence it is stagnant. The Sea of Galilee takes in but it also gives out; hence, it is filled with life; and its water is fresh. There you have a perfect illustration of the missionary church and the church that is not interested in missions. The latter takes in but it uses everything on itself. It never gives out. Hence it is filled with all sorts of loathsome creatures like a stagnant pool-criticism, gossip, fault-finding, division, and strife, etc., etc. The missionary church takes in, but it also gives out. Hence it is alive and aggressive and God's blessing rests upon it.
The same is true of the individual. The one who keeps everything for himself and refuses to share it with others, becomes a stagnant pool-a Dead Sea, a blessing to no one. The one who invests in foreign missionary work, is living an abundant life. It is for us to decide whether our lives are to be symbolized by the Dead Sea or the Sea of Galilee."
I think that goes along perfectly with what I was trying to say, and he did it shorter and more to the point. We must not become stagnant pools only focused on ourselves! God wants servants that a ready to do his will, not leeches just want to suck out the things that benefit them. Life is too short, we must not be useless and unfruitful.
As Oswald J. Smith wrote, "God so loved the world that He gave. He gave His only Son. He gave Heaven's best. What have you given?" Are you holding back? Saving the best for yourself? We are blessed to be a blessing! Let us go and bless others!

Fattened in a day of slaughter

James 5:5 states, "You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter." This chapter of James talks about the misuse of riches and the sin of loving the world, and it also exhorts the christian to be patient and look for the coming of the Lord.
In my opinion, the verse above describes the church of America today pretty accurately. Judgment begins in the House of God and I believe we need to wake up. We are living lives of pleasure and fattening our hearts for a day of slaughter. We lavishly spend money on ourselves. We are focused on bettering ourselves and marketing the gospel to make ourselves prosperous. We need to wake up! Being a Christian is not about becoming a better you or about you being comfortable and prosperous. A Christian is dead so that Christ may live! Christianity is about serving others and bringing the good news of the gospel to a dying world at any cost!
Something that God has been speaking to me is that I need to stop talking and start doing. Many of us (myself included) have a collection of Christian books, dvds, tutorials, etc. Everytime a new book comes out or there is a big stir about something we grab the merchandise for it. What God has been telling me is that I need to get my head out of the books and off the t.v. screen and look up at a lost and dying world. Now please dont misunderstand me, I don't believe it is wrong to read Christian books or that it is a bad thing to have Christian merchandise. However, we cannot constantly fill ourselves all the time and simply read the next thing and have our head stuck in a book while a dying world goes to hell. We cannot be always learning and never doing anything. We must take what we learn in those books, and then get our head out of the book and use what we learned to help a world in desperate need of a Saviour. The purpose of filling ourselves up, is so that we can be prepared to pour ourselves out to others and be a blessing to them. Too often I think we get caught up in "I need to find the secret to prayer" or "I need a new special revelation of the Word" or "I need this guy's new secret for world evangelism". But if we would only look to God first and seek first His kingdom, he would show us these things Himself. Where do you think the people that wrote these books got their revelation and inspiration? If we would ACTUALLY pray ourselves, read the Word ourselves, and seek God with all our heart than we wouldn't need someone else's revelation. There is not going to be a secret formula for some special experiences in these books. We simply need to walk daily with God ourselves, pray, read the Word, and let Him mold us into what he wants us to be. My hope for you after reading this is not for you to think I am against Christian literature or merchandise, because I have a collection of it myself and some that I cherish because I believe we can learn from men and women of God and be encouraged by brothers and sisters in Christ. I am just firmly persuaded that we need a healthy balance of filling ourselves up without forgetting to pour ourselves out. We must serve others, not simply focus on ourselves and accumulate head knowledge. If we do not do this, I believe we are going to be doing exactly what James 5:5 says and be fattening our hearts in a day of slaughter.
My pastor talks quite often about those who claim "The message hasn't changed, only the methods have changed." I believe that anyone with any sense would realize this is not the case. I saw a church sign driving down the road on Sunday that said "We don't change the message, the message changes us." Now that is a much better quote. In the book "The Challenge of Missions" by Oswald J. Smith there is a quote about missions support that is "We do not raise it by means of suppers, bazaars, concerts, rummage sales, or oyster stews. Not because I am against these methods, but because they will not work." This is the same message my pastor has been giving for some time on reaching the lost. These things do not work, but this is where we put all our money. There is so much we could be doing, but we are wasting our time. If we would just be willing to give up one McDonald's value meal a week, or one movie ... I think you get the point ... we could send a missionary to share the gospel that could save souls for eternity. What are we going to tell God when we face Him in Heaven and he says, "Look at the misery you have caused. All your treasures have rotted away, rusted, and been eaten by moths. All that you have built has been consumed by fire and nothing is left but rubble." Those are not the words I want to hear when I see my Lord and Saviour. I want to hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Share in the joy of your Lord." We need to wake up and make some major changes in order for this to happen. We need to seek God with all our heart and see what He would have each of us do.