1 John 1:5-7
“5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

A statement of the obvious – God is perfect – followed by a call to be honest with ourselves. The bumper sticker ” I am a Christian expect me to act like one” comes into play here. Not only should we expect it of ourselves, God expects it of us.

The path is narrow (Matthew 7:14, Luke 13:24) and not everyone who thinks they are a Christian is going to spend eternity in His presence. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:22) He asks “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).

So what are we to do? Love, forgive, serve,share like Christ did for us. Love when we want to hate. Forgive when we want to retaliate and resent. Serve when we want to isolate. Share when we’re worried about upsetting the apple cart. We are to live the life Christ calls us to live. If you’re not confident you know what that is, are you following Him? Really? This isn’t Psych 101 we’re talking about here, this is Eternity 9999. We should all be taking this quite seriously.

What is more important to you than God? Is reading scripture or commentary taking to much of your time? What would you rather be doing? Simple truth is that the what you’d rather be doing is more important than God. How about your music? Does that draw you closer to God? Your reading? Does your life, minute by minute, draw you closer to God?

The answer is of course not. The question becomes then one of intentionality. Are you focused on becoming more Christ like every day? Are you on the narrow path to the narrow gate with intense focus on finishing the race on that path? Do you live in this world with the intensity needed to get to the next? This isn’t a casual stroll, a walk in the park. This is an ultra mudder marathon that lasts a lifetime. Are you in?

Be purposeful in your decisions, in your study, in your leisure, in your actions, in your life. Pursue Christ and “walk in the light, as He is in the light”. Anything less is a trip down the wide path to the wide gate.

Live for Christ and enjoy the glorious benefits of being in His light, of being his servant, of being used by him to change the world – intentionally, purposefully, one decision at a time.