Sometimes I sit and think and sometimes I just sit and then sometimes when I sit I fall asleep.
But I have been thinking lately, about how much of an example, we, as confessing Christ followers, live out, before people.
Somebody ones remarked that “the life you live as a Christian, might be the only Gospel, someone else may ever see.”
Rom 14:8 For both if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore both if we live, and if we die, we are the Lord's. 9 For this Christ both died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living. 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or also why do you despise your brother? For all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God." 12 So then each one of us will give account concerning himself to God. 13 Then let us not judge one another any more, but rather judge this, not to put a stumbling-block or an offense toward his brother.
The longer I walk this road of ministry, the more I become aware of how much our lives, as Christians are being monitored. The enemy out there, waits for the smallest `trip-up`, to blaze it out to all who would hear: “have you seen what happened to so-and-so? And they confess to be Christians!” or “Did you hear what he/she did? Surely Christians should not behave like that!”
Ø “Then let us not judge one another any more, but rather judge this, not to put a stumbling-block or an offense toward his brother.” I think the key being: “not to put a stumbling-block or an offense toward his brother”. We need to constantly be aware of our actions and our public display. Would we act the way we do, if Jesus Christ stood on the corner, watching us physically? If not, why do we do the stuff we sometimes do, thinking, “nobody will ever know?”
Ø Our lives should be such examples to others, that they would be drawn to Christ, not to us. I should be aware that my actions could be a stumbling block for a friend. How can I, invite a friend for dinner, well knowing that he might be struggling with alcohol addiction and then the rest of us enjoy a glass of wine at the dinner table, thinking it’s okay, but not once thinking about the inner struggle our friend might be battling at that moment. That is being a `stumbling-block`.
Ø What about the parent, smoking, whilst warning the children about the hazards of smoking. What or who should they believe? Should they believe your words or your actions? What about warning the teenager about the hazards of alcohol and driving under the influence? You issue the warning with a “scotch-on-the-rocks” in your hand.
“So then each one of us will give account concerning himself to God.”
Perhaps we need to focus so much more on our own actions, and pay a little less attention to the actions of others.
Luk 11:34 The light of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is sound, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is evil, your body also is full of darkness. 35 Therefore take heed that the light in you is not darkness. 36 Therefore if your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the shining of a lamp enlightens you.
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