I saw a sign outside a church that said, "Now Accepting New Patients."
Jesus said healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do. He did this when he was speaking with the Pharisees and scribes, who challenged him for eating with tax collectors and sinners. The irony was that the scribes and Pharisees needed Jesus just as much but they couldn't see it. They thought they were doing fine, but in reality they were so bogged down by religion they couldn't see how sick they truly were. Jesus said true religion is to feed the orphans and widows. The light they thought they carried was truly darkness.
As the church, are we healthy? Is the light we carry truly the light of Jesus?
Let us test our ways and return to the Lord.
I am calling all things back to myself. I am winnowing those who truly follow my son from those who follow man made religion. It's not too late. The sickle is not yet set to the field. There is still time to repent and come back to the father who waits with open arms. The world needs us church. The world needs a city on a hill. Lights to shine bright in this era of darkness. Look outside, it's easy to see the world is hurt and broken. As culture continues to chase after new and greater evils there is no light to guide them home. If Christians are only ever judgemental and unaccepting of sinners not one will come home. If we take it upon ourselves to be like the Pharisees and continually remind the world of all the things they're doing wrong not one person will come to Jesus. The older brother should have been out there looking for his younger sibling, and calling him home. Telling him how much the father loved him missed him. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And another is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. If you don't love God and understand how much he loves you, you will be incapable of loving your neighbor. And if you don't love your neighbor you can't love God, because it is impossible to love God and not his greatest creation. Do you love God? Are you the light? Are you healthy? Jesus said you can know a tree by it's fruit. What kind of fruit are you producing? Bitterness? Judgement? Strife, anger, jealousy? Or peace? Love? Joy?
I am not here to condemn you. Far from it, I am here to help you heal. A lot of people are afraid of going to the doctor because he might tell them they're sick. But in reality, you were sick before you went, you just didn't know it. And what you don't know can hurt you. God says my people perish for lack of knowledge. When you have a diagnosis of where you're hurting and broken, healing can begin. But as long as you are content to sit in a church Sunday morning and be like everyone else who is "fine", there will be no healing.
Explanation and Encouragement:
It's ok to admit you have struggles. It's not ok to keep it all hidden and never deal with it. You can't heal a wound in your body by saying it's not there, how much more your soul? Just like dealing with an infection in your body, dealing with deep pain in your soul hurts. But dealing with an infection in your arm is far better than losing your arm.
Please reach out for help. Think of the people in your life. If you see someone who bears much good fruit, reach out to them. Find out how they got there, and if they're able to have them work with you. CR runs every Tuesday night at NWC, and this is exactly what we deal with. CR helped me go from "fine" to fruitful. Jesus healed my soul.
