Spiritual Switzerland

When it comes to the things of God, you can't be Switzerland. You have to take sides -- in more ways than one.

One way is in the answer you give to the question of "Who is this Jesus anyway?"

You can choose to be with the allied forces by acknowledging that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, fully God and fully man, come to earth to live among us and die on a cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, thus ushering in the start of God's spiritual kingdom here on earth.

Or you can choose to be with axis forces by claiming that Jesus is just a "carpenter who talked a lot", a philosopher, a good example (but still only a man), a prophet and nothing more, or even a legend. That's a sad choice because its a wrong choice.

But choosing not to decide to answer the question at all is still making a choice. In a song called "Free Will" by the band Rush there is a line that goes "if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice" and that is absolutely true. Not choosing still leaves you in the hand-basket along with everyone else who rejects the savior of the world.

No, to inherit eternal life, you must choose to acknowledge who you are before God acknowledge who Jesus is, repent of your sins, and accept his free gift of salvation. When you really and truly do that he will be a new heart in you that only wants to please him. In short, as the Bible says, you must be born again.

Another way you take sides in how you walk Jesus once your are born again of the spirit of God.

You're either moving closer to God in your walk or further away. You can't stand still, you can't tread water. Its one way or the other way.

We who are believers should constantly check ourselves, check our actions, check the motives behind them, and see if we are growing in faith and moving closer to God or not.

Its like being caught up in a fast moving current of water. If you try to stand still, you'll just get swept up by the current and moved far away from where you are. And so it is with following Christ -- we can either actively check ourselves and take measures to keep moving forward on the road to life or we can get swept away by the cares of the world, or carried away by false doctrines that center around a false Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, test yourselves often to see what the evidence in your life says about your walk with the LORD. Others, please throw your very lives to Jesus and ask him to transform you from the inside out -- he is this only one who brings lasting joy!

Grace and Pace