November 24 reflections

A man who identifies as a Christian spoke with me yesterday about heaven. He said that he believed his favorite dog would be there, and he could not imagine heaven without waterfalls. I said I just wanted to thank and praise Jesus for all that He has done for me. He responded that I was more "spiritual" than he. His comments flow with many others that I have heard over the years. People speak of the things they want to do there like fish or play basketball. They hardly ever mention Jesus, which leads me to wonder, would "Christians" be content with heaven if Jesus wasn't there? Paul's attitude is so different! "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain... My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better." ( Phil 1:21,23b) This leads to my second reflection. How many "Christians" are like I was, knowing about Christ but not truly knowing him? We can say that we know about a famous person, through reading or TV or movies, but we do not know them personally. When someone justifies disobedience to a specific command of Christ by appealing to the truth that God is loving, one wonders how intimate their relationship is. "For to this end Christ both died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." ( Romans 14:9 ESV) "He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." ( 2 Corinthians 5:15 ESV) Christ did not come to suffer and to die to help us to do what we want to do but rather to gather for Himself a people surrendered to Him as King. In discussion last night with a Nigerian pastor who lives in a dangerous Muslim majority area, he stated that the largest area of disobedience in the Church was in not evangelizing. He has lived here a number of years and is fluent in English. I am compelled to agree as this is my biggest area of disobedience. Lord, I repent, and ask for boldness as Paul did. "To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel." ( Ephesians 6:18b-19)