Monday, February 21, 2011

Beliefs

Lately I've been thinking hard about what it means to be a Christian, especially in today's world.  It's tough. If you think for a minute it's easy, you are kidding yourself. 

The world throws messages at us all day.  About what to think. What to eat, what to wear, and what to watch.  About what to do.  And even about what to believe and take as truth.

I have to wonder if I went around asking people, "Are you Christian?" how many would say yes.  And then if asked "Why are you Christian?" would answer because I believe in Jesus.

So does that make you a Christian? And who is this Jesus that you believe in?


In the same way that I may believe in the devil, it doesn't make me a devil worshiper.

So who is it that we believe in?  Who is this Jesus?  What is He like? And what does He demand of us? Yes, I use the word demand because He does demand certain things of His people. This is the question that really speaks to me.  This is the question we should all want to answer.

This is where being a Christian calls us to put in the hard work and to study, and wrestle, and learn the word of God (the bible).  For how can we truly know who God is without studying and learning his word. We cannot simply go by what the world tells us about Him, we need to learn it for ourselves. For how can we be expected to share about Him if we don't know it ourselves.


How can we know how to love? How to worship?  How to treat our friends? Our family? Or our co-workers.  How to handle money? And enemies?

When I open my bible, all the answers are before me.  It is my job to learn them.

Matthew 4:4

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’a

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