Hard Work!!

Reading Micah today, I had an epiphany: Being a follower of Jesus is Hard Work!

This is the most important post I’ve ever written. Take the challenge and read on, please!

Faith is first. Without it, there is no hope to be a Christian, and with it, we are saved by His grace. But following our Faith come other issues in our walk. Let’s look at: the 10 Virgins,  the Eye of the Needle, and “faith without works is dead.”

How do all these things come together to equal: Being a follower of Jesus is hard work!?

Here’s what I mean

Micah 2 discloses the fury of GOD on those who do not follow the Law. 

Jesus fulfils the Law, which means if we follow Jesus, the Law is fulfilled.

But what is in the Law? Everything the Law instructs is to keep our eyes on GOD, to remember gratitude, to live in repentance, to be grateful for GOD’s grace. It is no different in that sense, for the practicing Jew or the practicing Christian: Faith, commitment to the LORD, and the acting out of that commitment is living the life of a follower of H’ashem.

So, Faith is the start.

Jesus saves through that faith. Without Him we cannot dwell with the LORD when our earthly life is complete. No one could and no one can fulfil the Law on their own; all fall short of the glory of GOD. All need Jesus.… But in following Him, we need to act upon our faith. All scripture, Old and New, instructs this.

Loving GOD and our fellow human being is the first step and the most important step to being true to our commitment to following Jesus. And we are not saved by our actions but only by our faith (which comes from the LORD anyway; it is a spiritual fruit). BUT — and this is the vital part of our walk with GOD and the most important post I’ve ever written: We must live our lives according to our faith. Now we come to the 10 virgins, the eye of the needle, and James’ pronouncement that “faith without works is dead” …

The 10 Virgins

I start with the premise that all of the virgins equate to followers of Jesus. But only some went into the chamber: only those who were ready, only those who had their lamps full were allowed into the wedding banquet.

The 5 who went in were: ready, full of the anointing of Holy Spirit. They were ready because they had prepared themselves. They were ready because they’d done what needed to be done to prepare. They were ready because they filled their lamps — the reference to the oil is symbolic throughout scripture of Holy Spirit.

The 5 who were not admitted were not ready, did not put everything into being ready. Perhaps they took for granted their admittance.

The eye of the needle

“Not everyone who says, “Lord Lord” will be admitted. That’s hard scripture. 

In order to justify these words, I’d like to demonstrate contrasts in 4 different ways.

One way: those who are committed to Jesus v those who are not living out their profession of faith ie: they believe in Jesus but are not putting Him first in their daily lives.

Another way might be to say: those who are born again, surrendered and sold out from the old lifestyle to a new, “always looking to Jesus as the author and finisher of their faith” v those who believe and live their faith in a vague sense. 

A third way — and this will be highly contentious — those who are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit v those who are born again but not Holy Spirit baptised or not ‘walking in the gifts of the Spirit’. 

But I propose this forth way: those who love Jesus and put Him first and do all He leads and commands them to do v those who love Jesus to a degree but consider their own lives as well.

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of GOD” (Luke 18). I believe these words of Jesus point best to the forth perspective which I’ve offered above. Whatever the virgins were doing, only 5 put the banquet as their first priority. The other 5 were “busy” doing other things.

Why not everyone who believes is rescued

Not everyone who purports to believe does believe. The desire, the lifestyle, the commitment matter to GOD as much as the faith in the healer and Messiah Jesus. Saying we believe and acting like we believe are not the same thing to GOD.

The parable Jesus gives of the two sons, one who says ‘Yeah, I’ll do it dad,’ and doesn’t v the one who says, ‘Nah, not going to do it!’ but does reveals this. Which one did the will of the father? The second one (see Matthew 21)

What did Jesus hate perhaps most?

How many times does Jesus get angry at the Pharisees? And over what?

“You blind guides” (Matthew 23)… “Hypocrites!” (Matthew 7)

Saying one thing and doing another is pretence to GOD and He hates it.

Hard work

Being a Christian, a follower of The Way, a person committed to GOD is hard work.

We are not all called to the same level of responsibility. We do not all have the same degree of talent. We are not all walking the same length of time as Believers before we die. These are not benchmarks that the LORD looks at. The various parables explain what the LORD does prioritise: What He asks of us depends on our hearts not our results. 

The parable of the talents (Matthew 25) tells us that different people have different gifts. We are commended for using what we have. 

The parable of the workers hired to work the field, starting at different times of the day (Matthew 20), teaches us that those who are in faith for a shorter period of time have equal consideration to those for a longer period of time… so long as both are working.

BUT result and effort are not the same thing

He wants us to put 100% effort in. That’s the ‘hard work’ part.

Faith + Works is what matters to GOD.

He forgives our humanity

Of course the LORD forgives our shortcomings. We may have lapses in our efforts. But He looks at the heart — and He looks very closely. When we repent, He forgives. And we start again.

This post is not to say we must doubt our salvation

Folks, this post is not to say you are to doubt your faithfulness or your salvation. No, no, no! This is rather to say don’t take the rapture for granted. Don’t take your relationship with Jesus for granted. And don’t assume you are saved simply because you believe… because “even the demons believe” (James 2). But rather, live with fear and trembling of GOD, recognise your fallibility, be thankful and grateful that Jesus died for you — knowing you are saved… and live as though He’s coming tomorrow! 

Be obedient to what He asks. Work hard at what He asks. If He doesn’t ask anything directly, read the Bible and see what it says and allow Him to speak to you through His words and through His Word.

“Delight yourself also in the LORD…” (Psalm 37)

And be ready!