To the Stagnant Christian: ACTIVATE!

Six months ago, I wrote about my “lazy issues.” Decided not to post it cause- I’m still lazy. But, here it goes…

“One day, I do what I think would make God happy and on the same day, I would watch hours and hours of TV,  and even had to guts to go to sleep without praying ’cause I was tired by the end of the day. God was always on my mind but I pushed him away. I’m very good at tuning things out when I want to. Explains why I study well at McDonald’s.

The sermon I watched was from Pastor Francis Chan on “How to Keep from Procrastinating” and it hit me hard. Every word was like a knife. It literally brought me to my knees. But I still found myself scrolling on Facebook minutes later. A friend of mine asked “How long will we be able to keep what we’ve learnt and really fight procrastination?” Good question. (literally ends there.)”

Years I’ve been struggling to fight all the distractions and tried all my best to devote my time to God. But I’ve found myself failing and failing every time. Sermon to sermon, youth fellowships, books… I’ve tried and tried but it all amounted to nothing. I still failed constantly and I was never fully satisfied.

Even though I was a Christian, I felt empty. It wasn’t long before I realized that I wasn’t alone. Even the youth at our church felt the same way. We were all stagnant Christians. Contented with the knowledge of salvation, being good, sinning less, going to church, singing songs- but never really growing.

Luke 9: 59-60
⁵⁹ He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

 

We knew we had to do something but school and sleep seemed more important at the time.

I’d go to the Bible study buut I have a test tomorrow.

Lord, thank you for this day. I’m exhausted, you understand right? I’ll sleep now!

I believe in God! I really do, but I gotta go do my laundry.

I’ve realized that even though we are saved, we can still feel empty, stuck and numb. Why? Isn’t God supposed to fill the space?

The question is… will you let him?

God is willing. He’s asking you to follow him. He wants to guide you to have a close and intimate relationship with you. Despite our sins, He willingly chose to give up his own glory, his own comfort, his own Son- not to force us to obey him, not so that we could fear him, not to push us away- but to draw us closer to Him. He made the first move. He loved us first.

1. God loved: so he gave us freedom.

2. God knew: with the freedom given, we’d fall

3. God wants: us to love him, freely- unforced.

4. God moved: by sacrificing himself for us.

“I am going to submit to you as an invitation for you to submit to me… have I not demonstrated to my submission, that you need not fear me?” – Andy Stanley, Intimacy with God

So what’s stopping us? Why do we hesitate?

Believe me, life will be so much more fulfilling, so much lighter if we submit ourselves to God- If we choose to obey him.  His command is simple: that we love God above all and love our neighbors as ourselves. Everything else wraps around these two greatest commands: Love God, love others.

Simple, but not easy.

Let me quote what Ptr. Joey Bonifacio concluded in his sermon:

“Jesus will GIVE YOU EVERYTHING but will COST YOU EVERYTHING.“

So I urge you now little ones, be courageous and activate! It wont be easy but God will equip you, mold you and guide you through it all.

Question is, what will you do about it? what can we do about it?

See the picture on the left? Imagine…

• If we all put our trust in Jesus and took a brave step of obedience.
• If Christians proclaimed their faith and walked the talk.
• Lived life courageously, with no excuses.
• Shared the good news of Jesus Christ in love.

Christianity would be more than just a “Sunday-event”, beyond religion and above all traditions. Christianity would be a relationship (with God and with others)- as it truly is.

My 1st Step:

It all started when I made the time to meet up with a good friend at a restaurant and simply listened to her. Jane’s (let’s call her Jane) problem was… difficult and I was 2-3 years younger than her- I didn’t know anything about it! God gave me the patience, the courage and the words to say. Just as he promised. And I was able to pray together with Jane at McDonald’s- yes at Mcdo.

So what are you waiting for? ACTIVATE bros!

 

Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

 

 

BTW, I do not own the photos. Got them all from google. So, a big thanks to whoever took them!

Oh, and I mentioned McDonald’s two times in the post- strike three!