How Long Will You Lie There?

“Go to the ant, O sluggard;

    consider her ways, and be wise.

Without having any chief,

    officer, or ruler,

she prepares her bread in summer

    and gathers her food in harvest.

How long will you lie there, O sluggard?

    When will you arise from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber,

    a little folding of the hands to rest,

and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

    and want like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:6-11 ESV)

There are multitudes of people here in America professing faith in Jesus Christ who are living not much different from the world. They give lip service to the Lord but their hearts are far from him, for they are living their lives mostly according to their own wisdom and thinking and reasoning, and not according to the commandments of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thus, they are spiritually slothful, having little concern for following the Lord.

Some of them may be living moral lives. Others do not. Many are professing faith in Jesus Christ while they still deliberately and habitually walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin. Many are living for self and for self-pleasure. They may go to worship services once a week, and they may tithe their offerings, and they may even be involved in “church” work. But still their lives are not surrendered to the Lord Jesus to do his will for their lives.

Some of them are physically lazy, as well, thinking only of themselves and their own self-pleasure and not of others and not of what God desires for their lives. They believe they got their ticket into heaven and thus they are secure and therefore they can go on living mostly how they want regardless of what God wants for their lives. For he did create us for a purpose, and that purpose is that we give our worship to him and not to ourselves.

Many of these who are regarded as sluggards, who are the spiritually lazy, are very caught up in the world of entertainment. So they live in their fantasy world of movies, games, TV shows, cartoons, stories, videos, talk shows, the news, sports, and whatever they find entertaining. And all of this is not bad, mind you, though a lot of it is. But our lives are to be consumed with God and with his will for our lives, not with our own self-pleasure.

For God has a plan and a purpose for our lives, and that is that we desire him above all else, that we forsake our lives of living in sin and for self, and that we now follow him in obedience to his commands and to going the way that he leads us to go. For our salvation from sin is not all about what God did for and will do for us, but it is about our surrender to him to do his will for our lives. For that purpose he died on that cross.

But it is very American to have this idea that faith in Jesus Christ is for the sole purpose of escaping hell and being able to go to heaven when we die. But Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to his righteousness. He died so we would now live for him and no longer for self. And he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so we will now honor him with our lives.

[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]

And Jesus said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have the promise and the hope of eternal life with God, but provided that we continue steadfast in that faith until the end.

And Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven. For many will stand before the Lord on the day of judgment calling him “Lord” and claiming what all they did in his name, and he is going to answer them with, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” for they would not obey the Lord.

And the Scriptures teach that all who profess faith in Jesus Christ must be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to righteousness. Sin must not be our master that we obey. For if sin is what we obey, and not obedience, it will lead to death, not to life eternal with God in heaven.

[Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 6:1-23; Galatians 5:16-21]

But this isn’t just about committing deliberate and habitual sins against the Lord in outward and obvious ways. This is about being lukewarm and lazy and not caring about our Lord with regard to his will and purpose for our lives. This is about selfishness. But as believers in Christ our lives are to be committed to the Lord and to doing his will 24/7, not just when we can fit him into our schedule or when it is convenient for us. Please believe this!

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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