There are many formerly professing Christians who have left the faith because it was inconvenient. I think everyone knows someone like this. At one time they believed that Jesus was God and through Him they had received eternal salvation. Today they live their lives as any non Christian does and possibly even preach that there is no God. It is inconvenient to live the life of a Christian. It forces us to make choices that can be counter to society and to our own desires.
In today's world, it is not only common, but encouraged for two people who are dating to have sex. Sex is seen as something pleasurable to be enjoyed with no consequences, and it is best to see if you are sexually compatible before you marry. Many of us grew up in families where premarital sex was discouraged and called a sin. Our parents, the church and society taught sexual abstinence, and we believed it was best to abstain.
Today, if you're at work and during the break you let it slip that you think sex before marriage is wrong, people around your table might start to laugh and make fun of you. They call you a virgin and ridicule your puritanical thinking. They think you're some kind of prude who needs to move out of the 19th century and start living in the 21st. Being called a Virgin is an insult? Being prudent is somehow wrong? In today's world, yes it is.
Many people find themselves in this type of situation and must make a decision to stand on what they believe or change their belief. They must decide if they will stand for what they believe is right, or do they need to compromise their life? Too often people will compromise. The pleasures of life will cause our beliefs to change.
Even if they believe that something is wrong, they will move at least partially in the direction which opposes what they had previously trusted to be true. Over time not only will they change their actions, but their hearts will follow. Life will change what we believe, if what we believe is fragile with no firm foundation. It is too inconvenient to stand for our faith without an anchor to hold onto.
Society pressures everyone to conform to the accepted norm. The moral standards of those around us will have an effect upon us if we do not have anything solid to anchor our faith in. We cannot simply believe in God, or what the Bible teaches, because our parents taught us to believe them. Even basing our faith on what is taught in Sunday School or at Church is not firm enough. Any teacher, no matter how good and charismatic they might be, is not solid enough to base your faith on. There is no foundation to plant yourself on, which will be able to weather the storms of society crashing down upon you, except Jesus Christ.
We must let Jesus be the foundation of what we believe. He is the truth upon which we can depend upon. The world is at war against the truth of God and we must decide now before the battle begins who we will stand with. You will never stand alone as a Christian against the world. Jesus is always right beside you to encourage, strengthen and comfort you. Whoever is on the Lord's side will not find a comfortable life but they will find a relationship with God that is closer then any on earth. They will find a life that is full and rewarding. A life with a purpose that is bigger than themselves. Inconvenient? Yes, but its a life worth living.
Photo Credit: The Miracle often lies Outside our Comfort zone. by BK
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