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One Hundred Percent
I was amused by a t-shirt I saw. It starts off by saying that I give 100% at
work-- 13% on Monday, 27% on Tuesday, and ending up by Friday with a grand total
of 100%. While this is cute, I have been thinking just how much effort we are
putting into our spiritual lives. For many, it appears they try to follow the
above formula. Compare that to the percentage of time Satan is using to separate
you from God.
While we act as if we do not care about others going into action, we should
know that the enemy is plotting, conspiring, and planning the destruction of
this great nation. If we do nothing about it, they will succeed.
1 Peter 5:8 tells us that Satan is prowling about seeking whom he may devour.
Well, the people he is seeking is every soul, and he works very hard upon the
souls of Christians to depart the love and grace of God. Sadly, many who wear
the name of Christ are playing into Satan's traps when they give anything less
than 100% effort in their spiritual warfare.
Satan is also using his many tools to sidetrack us and help us forget to call
upon God for our protection and guidance. In the Old Testament, we have many
examples of the children of Israel seeking protection from foreign powers, and
not seeking the protection from God. All too often, we seek protection from
sources other than God, and we suffer because of our choices.
It also appears that for many people, the maximum effort in protecting their
souls is attending worship services once a week. When it gets down to the truth,
what they are doing is hoping that God will be happy they are there that one
hour, while their mind is upon worldly things the other 167 hours of the week.
Do you realize that this is another tool of Satan? Satan wants us to feel that
we are religious and that God approves of us, all the while knowing that if
we are not 100% committed to serving the Lord, we will be lost.
Being human means that we do other things; not just pray and go to church all
the time. We sleep a good percentage of the time. We who work are active many
hours of the week. We take time to eat and do other things which are considered
necessities. The problem with this picture is that many consider that going
to church one hour a week is sufficient to make up for all this other time.
That is the wrong perspective to take.
The mark of a true Christian is one that we should not be satisfied with what
we are today, but be more focused upon what and who we will be tomorrow. This
reminds us of Paul's words in Philippians 3:14. Paraphrasing: Forgetting what
lies behind, I press onward for the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
We must realize we should be followers of Christ 100% of the time. We must not
forget Christ is our Lord, King, and Master. We can keep a spiritual perspective
even while we do these other activities. We are to focus upon things above and
not on this earth (Colossians 3:1-2). That does not mean we do not have to pay
attention to our driving or that we are not allowed to sleep.
What we need to do is seek how we can dedicate more time to spiritual matters
in our daily living. Just imagine how spiritual you could be if you devoted
as much time to your soul's salvation as Satan devotes towards your destruction.
Your soul is at stake. Take time to be serious about this subject. Your soul
depends upon it, and because of your relationships, the souls of others may
depend upon it. Don't you want to see them get to heaven?
By Carey Scott
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