so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
Acts 17:27 NKJV
I had been invited to speak at a church. I finished introducing Iva, and I was beginning to tell a story about one of our outings which connected to my message. I felt my husband tap me on the shoulder as he told me to wait a minute. What in the world was happening? Blind people often are left to wonder what is going on when everyone else already knows.
He walked across the front of the church, not far from the podium to retrieve Iva. She had decided to leave Mom at the altar and visit with the pastor.
I have been dropping Iva’s leash when I speak for over a year. She had never wandered off, and now she did it when I was a guest speaker.
Prior to church starting, Iva had been so cute. I trained her to go from the podium to my seat and back. Some Bibles were on the pew that caught her attention. For some reason, iva kept taking me to the Bibles instead of my seat, looking like a holier than thou Bible loving pup. She had just spoiled her reputation with one disobedient act.
This demonstrates a vital truth. Being in the vicinity of the Bible isn’t the same as being in the Bible. We could expand on that by saying being in the church isn’t equal to being part of the body of Christ. And being near Jesus isn’t the same as being in Christ.
Where are we in our Christian walk? Are we close enough, but not quite there? Are we looking the part without Jesus truly being in our heart? Are we playing church? Do our lives portray a godly walk? Are we the salt and light in this world? Are we the hands and feet of Jesus? If put on trial for being a Christian, would enough evidence exist to convict us?
We will mess up, and we will fail, but overall, do we habitually live a life pleasing to God?
You see the sad part is this: if you look the part, but Jesus doesn’t fill your heart, you may not possess genuine salvation. Maybe someone has convinced you that you said a prayer, joined a church, or you were baptized and you are on your way to heaven.
Don’t you want to make sure heaven will be your home? Here’s the deal: salvation is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you have that relationship or do you simply have religion?
There is no better time than now to get your life right with God. Know without a doubt that heaven will be your eternal home. If you have left your first love, now is the time to return.
My prayer for each of us is that we become entangled with Jesus to the degree that people cannot see where Jesus ends and we begin.
Originally posted on September 7, 2020 @ 1:24 pm