Light for Jesus

I read 1 Samuel 4 and something occurred to me as I was reading it... the Israelite's brought out the Ark of the Covenant (which represented God's presence) to the battlefield, thinking that it would help them defeat the Philistines. They took something holy that represented God's holy presence and treated it like a good luck charm.

.... but how often do we do the same thing?....

I mean think about it: we read God's Word or pray a quick prayer or go to church and think that we are 'good to go'. We think about how 'good' we are, we think about how we'll have a good and happy life since we've fulfilled our 'Christian duties'. We treat things like that like a good luck charm. And sometimes we treat God like a genie. We 'rub the lamp' for the genie to pop out and we tell God what we want. We talk to Him when it's convenient.

I was talking to a friend about this, about what God had been teaching me through His Word and she said "we really need to be in a constant conversation with God"... wow. A constant conversation.
Think for a second about one of your friends, who you talk to constantly, Snap Chat or message on Instagram? Who you talk, face-time, or talk to on the phone constantly? I mean you don't have to be with them to talk to them because they are one text away, or one message away.
God is one word away. He's actually already there. All you have to do is speak.

I had this other thought... it only takes one spark to ignite a flame. And if it only takes one spark to ignite the flame, why can't I be that spark? I mean think about it, we live in a dark, lost, and honestly pure evil world. If we don't rise up to shine His light, who will?

It's not going to be easy. I love the way my friend put it, "Jesus didn't call us to be comfortable, He called us to go." And that is so true. No where in the Bible does it say follow Jesus and live a happy comfortable life. No, it says the opposite. Jesus Himself told us we would be persecuted (John 16:33), but He also says to have courage because He has conquered the world.

To sum it up-- we live in a dark world so we need to step up and shine His light. We need to be in a constant conversation with Him, to not treat Him like a genie.

Matthew 28:18-20, "Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

~~~

When the world sees us what do they see? Are we shining Jesus? Are we living in a constant conversation with God? Do we treat God like a genie or go to church or read our Bibles as a good luck charm? Are we willing to give our all for Jesus?

Feel free to comment your answer(s) below :)


Note to readers: I'm going to be posting every Tuesday now (as long as I don't forget :) )