It’s just so much fun to let Jesus work in your life – To let Him set you more and more free.
Am I really a disciple of Christ? Or am I just a hearer of the Word? I think of all the years I went to church thinking I was a disciple of Jesus, but I was really just a hearer because I wasn’t doing the Word.
The “If, then” that leads to freedom in Christ.
I know that in my life, I was stuck in my sins until I started ‘doing’ the Word. I was constantly dismayed, had my own agendas, confused, double-minded, stuck in resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness, greed, jealousy, anger, religious pride, scared of the future, wasn’t loving my wife and daughters the way Jesus wanted me to, constantly let circumstances ruin me (and those around me), couldn’t find and didn’t have Jesus’ peace, and a whole list of other sins until we began memorizing and “doing” the Word. I mean it when I tell you I was living a miserable life and living far apart from the freedom Jesus had in store for me.
For years, we’d heard the Word, but the only time it made a difference in us was when Jesus motivated us to begin to do it, to put it into practice in our everyday lives…And then, to continue in the Word so it could help us grow in Jesus and become more free from the list of sins I mentioned above.
To the Jews who had believed him (as well as any of us who have believed in Jesus), Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching (if you continue to follow Me), you are really my disciples. Then (and only then) you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32
If we don’t follow Jesus by doing what He says to do, we’re not really His disciples and we won’t be set free from our ways, the sin that’s destroying our lives.
Jesus was saying that if a person is a “doer” of the Word, and not just a hearer of His Words, that person will know the truth (will know Jesus Who is the truth), and that person will be set free.
I heard a pastor in a Christian movie say something like this: “If we return hate for hate, greed for greed, anger for anger, jealousy for jealousy, pride for pride, selfishness for selfishness, unforgiveness for unforgiveness (or road rage for road rage as in my case), then we’re (professing Christians) no different than the world and they’ll never see Jesus living in us.” His words reminded me of Matthew 5:13:
“You (Christ’s disciples; those who have asked Jesus into their lives) are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its taste, it cannot be made salty again. Salt is useless if it loses its salty taste. It will be thrown out where people will just walk on it.
Matthew 5:13
It’s true, if we continue in His Word, if we “do” His Word, if we apply it to our lives and everyday circumstances, we will know the truth (we’ll be forgiving, we’ll have Jesus’ peace in our souls, we won’t be jealous or covet, or hateful, or greedy, or angered when things don’t go our way, He’ll enable us to live above our circumstances, etc.),that is, Jesus’ instructions for how to live life His way, and we will be free from anger, jealousy, self-pity, fear, unforgiveness, etc. Jesus is telling us this can only be accomplished if we truly follow Him by doing His Word, by letting His Word work in our lives to change us.
Put the Word into practice in your life no matter what others think. Let Jesus set you free, and then let Him continue to set you free. Become doers of the Word beginning today. You’ll be so happy you did.
God bless,
Mark