It doesn't surprise me because I used to be that same person. I would attend church with my friends, I would have what I thought were profound thoughts about the Gospel or about my faith, and then I would return to school and cuss or make fun of people with my friends. I was a mean girl. I am okay with admitting that. I am not okay with my actions and even to this day, twenty years later, I am still haunted by how I treated one person in particular...more on that in a later post.
I get how hard it is to keep the faith when you're surrounded by your peers in today's society. I remember. But while I was doing my Bible study today, I came across something that really made me stop and think.
You can know who God is but do you KNOW God. You can know that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and that over 2,000 years ago he was on this earth and he did some miracles in the name of God and that he was crucified and died and later resurrected all because he wanted to save our lives from sin. Most of us know that story. When you accepted Christ, did you just accept that man? Or did you accept him as God. Following his commands and immersing yourselves in the Word.
It's the same as knowing who X is from another school because you've heard about him through other friends. You may know that X dated Y and that X broke up with Y on Snapchat and it was terrible and that everyone is not a fan of X but X plays sports and is really good...I could go on. But do you KNOW X? Have you met X and had conversations with X and listened to X, hung out with X, talked to X? That's the difference in many decisions made by people. I knew who God was and what he had done. I knew Bible verses. But I didn't KNOW God. I wasn't even trying to know him. I assumed that my acceptance of Him and my baptism was enough and a few "Oh God help me pass this test!" statements made it okay. Even years later as an adult, I thought the same thing. Time after time my actions did not reflect Christ at all, FAR from it, but I thought I knew Christ. I was jaded because I only knew of him. I didn't ever take the opportunity to get to know him.
I want to challenge you guys to KNOW God. Because one day, you will meet him and you will want to make sure that he KNOWS you, not just knows of you.
Matthew 7:21-23New King James Version (NKJV)
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Can you imagine going up to those gates, knocking, and then he says he has no idea who you are? That terrifies me but that is REAL. This will happen to many people. Don't let it happen to you. Get to know him. Pray to him. Listen to him. You must immerse yourself or you will lose yourself. Trust me. I speak from years of experience.
~Wilkes
