Difficult?

Someone once asked me how difficult was it to come up with a new blog each day. It has not been a problem for me. Unfortunately, I do take time from some other things I should be doing, but coming up with a subject is as easy as opening a Bible – which I do more than once a day.

I do have a problem keeping notes around too long, though. If I could sit down at a keyboard all day long, I could continually write about what I find in the Bible that should be applied to our lives. It’s a good thing I can’t do that or I would never be living my life and applying the things I’ve learned!

We all have problems in that application area, don’t we.  Sometimes the things we know just don’t get applied. Paul described it as:

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. (Romans 7:19 KJV)

Paul had accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Paul gave God full allegiance, fulfilling the first commandment. Paul fulfilled the second, too, loving his neighbors – perhaps even more than himself.  Yet he confesses to doing evil, evil that he really didn’t want to do. Was he saved?

Yes – he was. It is evident in the abrupt change in his life. While Nicodemus came to Jesus privately, Paul was outspoken about their encounter. While Zacchaeus gave part of his wealth back, Paul left his entire heritage to follow the Lord’s command to share His word.

Is salvation easy? Yes – and, no.

Yes, it is as easy as the answer to the jailer’s question:

And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:30-31 KJV)

No, because when we do say that we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, things should change in our lives so that people look at us, see the difference and sometimes push us away. Jesus knew this and gave us words of preparation:

And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-27 KJV)

It’s sort of like any other major life change – we can go through it, but we come out the other side a changed person. We do things differently, we think differently, we seek to know about our Lord and spend time with His word.

If those changes are not evident in your life, perhaps some consideration should be given as to why.