“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then, in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Matthew 13:44 (ESV)
Going against the tide in living whole-heartedly for God today
We live in a world where many people identify themselves as Christians. There are those who are born into families who are Christians and raised as Christians, but never really had a decision to be Christians as adults. There are those who had a special encounter with Jesus but lost their faith along the way due to the world’s enticements. There are those who desire to follow God but cannot give up their sin, worldly attachments, or close friends who draw them away from God.
There are those who desire to love God, but an unanswered prayer, a heartbreak, or something else big has turned their hearts away from God. There are still some who know the value and importance of their faith, but they want to “enjoy” life while they are young and want to follow the Lord later when they are in their senior years.
Still, some found the pearl of great price, the pearl of infinite value, and followed the Lord wholeheartedly without turning their back. We can see what kind of Christians they are by their values, priorities, thinking, attitudes, speech and actions.
The path to life with Christ requires deep-rooted conversion
Why is it easy to find people who identify as Christians and hard to see a true Christian?
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)Â
It is not easy to be a true and whole-hearted (radical) disciple of Jesus Christ at this time and age. The world, with all its temptations, would like to lure us to its ways of thinking. The flesh is there deep within to trap and ensnare us to go back to our old ways without God. And our nemesis, the devil, will do all it can to prevent us from unchaining ourselves from the ways of evil. But God has not let us on our own. He gave us His Word, His Holy Spirit, and other Christians to help us in our walk with Him
The first step to becoming a true, through-and-through Christian is a deep-rooted personal conversion. It is turning away from ourselves, repenting, and making Jesus our Lord and Saviour. He becomes first in our lives. We surrender to the Holy Spirit and come closer to God through prayer, Scripture, service and fellowship. We understand that we will fall, and we repent when we do. We ask for help from other older Christians when we are at our weakest, knowing that we are not alone in this journey. We need to have an eternal vision for our lives, and we are willing to give up everything to follow Him in this life. We need to make a deep resolve to follow Jesus completely for the rest of our lives.
Seeing ourselves in the eyes of God – loved and forgiven
The next step is the hardest part – it is to be consistent and zealous for our faith come hell or high waters. Regardless of all the challenges and failures we face, we need to stand up again and again. We will feel unworthy to face God when we ask forgiveness for the same sin 7×77 times, but we need to see ourselves in the eyes of God – loved and forgiven by God, made worthy in His eyes through Jesus Christ. We need to go through all sorts of hardships, trials and crises, but as we pass through them, we become stronger and more Christ-like.
But it is not all hardships and problems. We live a life with order and discipline that keeps us true to our calling. Our lives will never be perfect, but hopefully, we will not encounter problems and challenges that big sins can bring us as if we are not with God. Deep within us arise a joy and contentment that the world cannot duplicate.
We are primarily made for God, and there is a deep peace that surpasses all understanding when we are one with our Creator. The emptiness we encounter deep rooted within has been filled by God. We have great times of fellowship with other Christians and fun that is wholesome and enjoyable. We live without a façade, without lies, and without hypocrisy. We have peace with our friends, families and with ourselves. Most importantly, we have an inheritance that cannot spoil, rust, fade away or be stolen. We look forward to a life eternal that has no sorrow, pain, suffering or death.
The infinite rewards of following Jesus Christ
The Christian life is a journey – a lifetime one. It has its ups and downs. It has a very high price but has infinite rewards. If ever Christianity is or has become boring, you need to look deep into your heart and check whether you have truly found the pearl of great price. Have you encountered Jesus Christ at all? Or maybe you need to meet Him again. Because true, through-and-through Christianity is the best and most exciting and fulfilling thing that can happen in your life. It is worth the whole of our lives.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this, you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
1 Peter 1:3-9 (ESV)
Top image credit: Clip art illustration of an opened treasure chest with gold, silver, and precious pearls, from Bigstock,com, © by RetroClipArt, stock photo ID: 17347826. Used with permission.
Tom Caballes is a National Coordinator of the Lamb of God, a community of the Sword of the Spirit with seven branches located throughout New Zealand. Tom and his wife Mhel and their two daughters [with his son-in-law and grand-daughter] live in Wellington, New Zealand.