Fan or Follower?

Are you a Christian?  I don't mean do you have Christian values, abide by Christian morals or express a Christian spirit.  I mean are you a follower of Christ?  Do you day in and day out yearn to please your Savior?  Do you feel and see the Holy Spirit work in you?  Are you a changed person, more like Christ, than you were yesterday, last week, last month or even last year?  Forget everything you've believed about how one becomes a Christian. A simple, sweet prayer in the mouth of a child asking Jesus to come into their heart is beautiful and touching.  I believe it is something that makes God's heart sing.  But if the last time you spoke to Jesus was as a child, your efforts in being a Christian amount to nothing more than superstition.  You may as well avoid black cats and broken mirrors too and hope that helps you in eternity.

It is sobering to sit here and think about those in my life I've just always assumed were saved from eternal damnation because they once spoke or acted like a Christian.  But as I learn more about what it takes to be a follower of Christ, one who takes up their cross daily and gives their will over to His will moment by moment, I'm saddened by the realization that maybe those I always thought I'd see in heaven would not be there.  Even scarier is the thought that maybe they too think they are saved but will one day find out they are not counted among the saved.

Simply believing that Jesus is Lord, that he died on the cross for your sins and was raised up three days later does not separate you from the beliefs of the devil himself.  Satan knows these things too; he wholeheartedly believes them.  But if you are not giving yourself over to God every day, you spend that day walking a little further away from Him. There is no such thing as being in limbo when it comes to the Christian faith - you are either living and growing on the vine of Christ or you are dying and withering.  If it has been 20 years or even 2 years since you witnessed God at work in you, wake up, humble yourself and make yourself second.  Stop being a fan of Christ and become a follower.

Erin (our Kajiji Girl in France) recommends a great message by Paul Washer just on this topic. It is audio only and just over an hour, but please listen to it when you can.  It may sound harsh at times and uncomfortably true throughout, however the directive to examine oneself is imperative.