As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going from there, he saw two brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
– Matthew 4:18-22
I am often amazed at the people I encounter who have “tried Christianity” or “tried religion” and found it boring and unfulfilling. I have also seen countless people who are just bored with their faith in Christ, bored with church and disillusioned as to what it really has to offer them. This is really odd because if Jesus is who He says He is, God, how could He be boring? How could a relationship with Him ever get stale? I don’t believe the problem is Jesus not being who He says He is. He simply IS! I believe the problem can be found in the scripture quoted above in Matthew 4:18-22.
We see in these scriptures that when Jesus calls someone to come to Him He calls them to “follow” or pursue Him. We aren’t called to a stagnant state, but to motion and action. We are called to a great journey with God.
It is important to realize that salvation is not the end point in our journey. It is just the beginning! Salvation is not just a ticket to Heaven but is the doorway to discovering more and more of God! We literally embark on a life long journey of revelation with the King of kings and the Lord of lords! Does that sound boring to you?!
The problem is that we often stop along the way. In other words, we quit taking our next step in our journey with Jesus. Next Steps are simply steps of faith in our journey with Christ. Many times we quit seeking our next step. Other times we refuse to take the next step God gives us because it seems to hard or we aren’t sure it will be worth it. In effect, our faith becomes stagnant and stagnation leads to disillusionment and boredom!
How do we avoid Christian Boredom? (It is really an oxymoron!) We take our next step of faith! We pursue Jesus! As we pursue Him our next step becomes apparent and as we take it we become anything but bored! Why do many Christians end up bored? They simply quit taking their next step in pursuit of Jesus!
CAUTION: We all have times when our faith is red hot and times when we don’t feel as passionate. You aren’t alone in that. The question is are you willing to settle for that? DON’T BE! Don’t settle for anything less than a journey through a relationship with Jesus! I can promise you although the journey may be tough and it may be frightening at times, but it IS NOT boring!
The next four weeks we are going to be taking a look at what a next step is, how we find it, and how we take it! Invite someone to come with you this Sunday. Invest…Invite…Serve…Encourage! GATA!!
Heart and Soul!!