Keeping the Word of God
There is a time when we can lose focus as believers. We do things and say things with great intentions, but it completely overshoots the depth of the meaning of Christ's life. A woman, who it can be understood saw Christ's significance, once said to Jesus in Luke 11:27, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!" While trying to be respectful to Jesus and his mother, he corrects her. In verse 28 Jesus responds with "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" Are you keeping the word of God?
First, are you reading the Bible? Are you understanding what you are reading? I have heard people say that the love Jesus and are Christians, but then they follow that up with the Bible is misinterpreted and wrong and blah blah blah. But if the Bible is wrong then how do you know about Jesus? What is it that you know about him? Where did you learn that? If the source that educates you is flawed in your mind then your beliefs may be flawed as well. Read about Jesus in the gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Read about why he did what he did. Understand him. But in order to do that, you have to read.
And second, are you keeping his commands. Yes there are the 10 commandments, but also the spirit of the 10 are condensed in Matthew 22:36-40. Love God first and then because you love God, you love people. This is not just love like a fluffy Valentine's Day love, but like I will sacrifice for someone I do not know kind of love the way you sacrifice for someone you do know. That kind of love is how you know if you have Christ working through you. Keep the word of God by reading it, understanding and accepting Christ and follow the spirit of the commands.
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Faith in Jesus
Luke 5 has numerous examples of how the faith people had in Jesus was able to bring about what they needed and also what they didn't expect.
The first example was Jesus telling Simon to let down the fishing nets he had just finished cleaning. Simon's response was we tried to catch fish all night but since you said let down the nets, we will do it. They let down the nets and caught a whole bunch of fish. There were so many fish they needed help to lift them up and the weight from the fish started to sink the boat (verses 4-7).
This section of the chapter does not just include faith in Jesus, but also doing what Jesus says. Jesus said to let the nets down into the water. Even though Simon and the others had fished all night, they gave it one more try. It worked. Simon had given up and was gonna move on, but Jesus says give it another chance and it worked with abundant results.
After witnessing all of this Simon Peter (a different Simon, usually known as Peter) fell on his knees humbled by what just happened. Simon Peter knew of the healing of his mother-in-law by Jesus, but this miracle really hit home for him. Jesus told Simon to not be afraid and stated that from now on he would be catching men- that is men to follow Jesus aka making disciples (verses 8-11).
Think about those times you have been praying for someone or something. Or the times you have invited someone to church. Think of a friend or acquaintance that you talk to all the time. You see them out on jogs, hikes, places to eat, the grocery store. Don't stop sharing your story. Don't stop sharing the Good News. Don't stop sharing the life of Christ. You never know the impact it can have on someone's life. I once was also very, very reluctant of attending church, bible studies, and fellowship (spending time with other Christ followers). I did not outwardly or inwardly follow Jesus nor did I read the Bible. People have prayed for me, shared with me and been patient. It is not up to us to change people or force them to follow Christ. Let God use you as a tool to spread his message.
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