Bible Thoughts

October 21, 2001

Friendship with Jesus Christ is decided by the attitude that one has toward obedience. In this short verse, the Lord said it plainly enough, did he not? Obedience to the Lord's words is the standard for deciding whether one desires to be close to the Lord. After all, a friend is someone you love and can depend upon when you need help.

Solomon pointed out that "a friend loveth at all times"(Proverbs 17:17). When a Christian is dedicated to the Lord and His cause, he demonstrates that love by walking in the light "at all times." A hit and miss religion does not meet the Lord's standard. The closer one is to the Lord, the closer one will walk with him as a true and lasting friend. The love of a disciple toward Jesus Christ will grow with the years of service in the Lord's way. Christ becomes a constant companion, giving strength to the disciple, and providing the zeal to be faithful, whatever be the price. The closer the friendship, the stronger the Christian.

The closer that one draws to Jesus Christ, the closer one becomes to other Christians. Each disciple becomes a "friend that loveth at all times." The bond with other Christians will be evident in all of those disciples as the love "at all times" is practiced. There will be no discrimination, but an openness that recognizes each disciple as a friend of Christ. As we realize that Christians are all members of the spiritual family, respect for all other disciples will grow as maturity in the faith becomes a part of the life and attitude of each saint. Whoever is a friend of Christ is a friend of all of those who belong to Christ. And...let each of us practice being a friend to all of the friends of the Master "at all times."

Zaccheus was short of stature. His desire was to see Jesus Christ. His handicap interfered with his desire, for he could not see the Lord over the heads of those who stood between him and the master. Zaccheus, however, was not to be denied a glimpse of the Son of God. Finding a sycamore tree nearby, he climbed high enough to see the Lord as he passed by. When Jesus saw him, he requested that Zaccheus come down from the tree and Christ would go to his house.

The grumblers of the day tried to cast reflection upon the Lord as they said, "He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner"(Luke 19:7). While it is true that Zaccheus, like the accusers, was a sinner, he was one whose heart led him to seek the Savior. When Jesus called him to come down, "he hurried and received Him gladly"(Luke 17:6). The eagerness of this man should have shamed the critics, but apparently had little affect upon the accusers. Jesus said that "salvation" came to this "son of Abraham."

An obstacle to the honest seeker of truth becomes a challenge. Zaccheus' height inspired him to find a way to view the man of Galilee. His spirit of honesty provoked this tax collector to account for how he treated the taxpayers of this day. Zaccheus gave "half of his possessions" to the poor and would give four times the amount if he had "defrauded" anyone. His reward: salvation from his sins.

We as Christians need to be constantly reminded that the Christian walk is an ongoing journey, you do not reach your destination overnight. In teaching and preaching much emphasis is placed upon accepting Christ and submitting to water baptism. These are needful things, one must be born into Christ before one can walk in Christ. But we must also realize that the cleansing of sins and the new spiritual rebirth of a person is just that: a birth. After a person is first born they are merely a babe, with the entirety of their God given life ahead of them.

Much emphasis is placed on becoming a Christian, but the whole purpose of Christianity is not becoming a Christian but being a Christian. Once we are born into Christ we must start living for Christ. The working of our faith is what gets us into Christ in the first place, but the faith of a new Christian should not be the same kind of faith that a mature Christian has, because the faith of the new Christian is still untried and untested.

Gold is tested with fire to remove impurities and determine its genuineness. Gold is valuable, but it is of the world and passes away. If it needs to be tested to determine its worth, how much more so does our faith, which is of the spiritual realm, need to be tested to determine its worth?

The hardships of life are the fire which determine the value of our faith. Becoming a Christian is absolutely necessary, but living as a Christian, withstanding the trials of life, that is the important thing. People let problems with their families and with their jobs interfere with their spiritual life. They let disagreements about the interpretation of spiritual things degenerate to the point of creating strife and conflict with their fellow Christians.

Christ said of the Church in Ephesus, “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent”(Revelation 2:2-5)

That first love is Christ. The love of Christ is what motivates all people to become Christians, or it should be. Our lives, our faith, must be a testimony of that love. Everything we do must be done because of our love for our Lord and Savior. The same trials of life that test our faith, test our love for Christ as our love stems from our faith. What does the fire of life say about your faith and your love? Is it genuine, or is it something else?-Scott Huston