“Take your vitamins.” “But Mom, I don’t need them. I’m healthy. I’ll take them when I get sick.” If you have teenage children, you probably have heard this protest. Problem is that vitamins do not work this way. Feeling sick and swallowing a handful of vitamins is not really going to do any good. Vitamins take time to build up in your body and only then can they help your system ward of the causes of disease.
I have known people through the years who view Christianity this way. “I do not need it now. Everything is OK. I’ll surrender to Christ when I need Him.” As a teenager, I told myself I would enjoy the wild life and ask Jesus to be my Savior if I was about to die. When I was nineteen, the LORD vividly illustrated to me just how futile this thinking was. A high school friend, his sister, and I were on the way to the beach following a night of partying. I was in no condition to drive, so I gave him the keys to my car and lay down in the back seat. I was awakened by my buddy screaming, “Hang on, we are going to wreck.” Instantly, the car was twirling as we were tossed about. When the car finally stopped and we crawled out, we could see it had spun around several times, jumped a ditch, and came to rest almost on its side. Thankfully, no one was injured. The next morning, the first thing that popped into my sober head was the fact I had not thought one time about God or dying—no quick prayer. This was an eye opener for me, and was the beginning of my journey toward a complete surrender to Christ.
Last week I was looking through a catalog, advertising well stocked First Aid and Survival Kits. I thought, “this would be good to have, just in case.” Like last second prayers before death, believers can also treat Christ, the Bible, and church like an emergency first-aid kit. People will give little attention to prayer and reading the Bible or attending church until an emergency arises. I cannot count the times I have seen people frantically searching the pages of Scripture looking for a verse that addressed their sudden emergency or they show up to church for the first time in months.
Paul tells the church at Ephesus to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph. 6:17). The sword of the Spirit is one of the pieces of armor that God has given us to withstand the attacks of Satan. The sword is also the only offensive piece of armor; the other pieces are primarily defensive. Two Greek terms are translated ‘word’ in the New Testament. The first word is logos. John used logos when he wrote, in the beginning was the [logos] word (John 1:1). Logos could be viewed as the whole Bible. The other term is rhema, which is a spoken word or the word directed at someone. For us, it is not merely reading a verse, but it is that scripture, which the Holy Spirit illumines to our hearts and directs toward our personal life. Rhema is the term Paul used for the sword of the spirit, which is the word (rhema) of God. The sword of the Spirit is not randomly searching through the Bible looking for a scripture applicable to your emergency. Rather, it is a scripture, which the LORD has previously brought to your mind with understanding, and is settled in your heart.
I am not saying that God will not honor those last minute prayers and searches, but why put yourself into that situation? He has provided all we need. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (2 Peter 1:3). Note this happens through our knowledge of him. This knowledge comes through knowing the Bible and having those rhema verses settled in our minds in order to ward off the enemy.
I once preached a sermon I called, “Not just a fire insurance policy.” Salvation is far more than just a means of preventing a person from going to the fires of hell after death. We could make Christianity merely another religion with lots of ‘does and don’ts’ and rituals, and endless rules. Christianity is a relationship with Jesus and a way of life. It is not something we just do on Sunday. Jesus said I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). The word used here for life is not biological life, but rather this word indicates a quality of life. It is God’s highest and best for believers. Paul instructed Timothy to pray so that he may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity (1 Tim 2:1, 3). God does not want us to live in a constant state of conflict. He desires we have an abundant, tranquil, and quiet life. However, this only happens when we are in a constant relationship with Christ, reading His word, communicating with Him in prayer, and being around other believers. These are like the vitamins we take daily or like a well-sharpened sword from multiple rhema words.
The problem with delaying a full surrender to Christ is that statistics show the older a person gets, the harder it is to make a commitment. It is easy to make excuses saying, “I’ll give my life to Christ and go to church after I get married.” Then the excuse becomes “I will do this after we have children.” Then, “I’ll surrender after the children are gone and I have more time.” Etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum.
Sustaining Word for the Week:
Why wait to enjoy all the benefits of life in Christ. He came that you may have life, and have it abundantly. Do not wait until you need an Emergency First Aid Kit?