Today, I had so much on my mind,
which was normal since I have just ‘returned’ from seeking GOD. As I walked on
wondering what exactly to share with you, I met a woman with whom I once
attended the same Church.
She did not recognize me at first but
after all the pleasantries she did. As you know, I am in a particular Church
for as long as GOD wants me there. As soon as I have accomplished what He wants
me to do there, He takes me to my next ‘post’. Now, I told her that I no longer
fellowship there and she told me that she had moved back to her ‘mother Church’.
Even if she is old enough to be my mother, I spoke to her in silent rebuke. I
tried to tell her that what she had done had made a loud statement. Of course,
as is always the case, she tried to justify herself as she gave me reason as to
why she had moved back. She told me that the fellowship she used to hold at her
house every week had also scattered. In fact, I would have expected her to tell
me that there was some valid reason as to why she turned her back on Christ to
return to ‘her mother church’ as she called it. I would have liked to ask her
if her mother had died for her sins...but I only thought about that after we
had parted ways.
I am telling you this because every
year, I meet one or two people like her who simply wake up one day and decide
to walk away and return to the vomit they left behind.
Proverbs
26:11
“As a dog
returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly”.
2Peter 2:20-22
“If they
have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the
end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to
have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their
backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs
are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to
her wallowing in the mud.”
I know I have said this before but I
will say it again. When you turn back to the religion you came from, you turn
your back on Christ. Christ is salvation. In fact, the name ‘Jesus’ stands for ‘GOD
is salvation’. You cannot say that you have gone back to your old religion or
mother Church. The mere fact that you say, ‘go back’ means that you have turned
from one thing that seemed so good in the beginning to an older one that you
once saw as not worthy enough to remain with. Secondly, you do not ‘own a
Church’ nor does your mother!
Let me tell you this. Regardless of
what religion you were ‘born in’, when you make a commitment to give your life
to Christ, you make a statement. The statement you make is that ‘I have forsaken
all other for Christ’. In fact, when you make that decision, you choose JESUS
and not a particular sect or religion. You make a choice to relate with Him
alone. Christ becomes your all in all – He becomes the foundation upon which
you do everything. It is for this reason that He is called the chief
cornerstone upon which the Church is built. Although, we do have buildings that
we refer to as Churches, you and I are also the Church. In fact, the Church
buildings would be empty if you and I did not exist. In other words, our
relationship with Christ greatly determines the physical character of any
Church setup, growth, and maturity.
Therefore, salvation goes beyond
religion or even a building. It is a personal relationship with Christ. When we
receive Christ as our personal Savior, we accept Him into our hearts. It is
because of this that I say that when we decide to turn our backs on Him and ‘go
back to our mother Church or religion’ we shut our hearts to Him.
I want you to remember that moment that
you gave your life to Christ. I want you to remember the words you uttered when
you did. You said them amidst a congregation in Church or in a Church setting. Even
if you gave your life to Him in the confines of your house, the fact remains
that you GAVE YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST. You made a covenant with Him. You made a
promise to Him and you RECEIVED HIM. I want you to stop and think about this
for a second – what would it mean if you woke up tomorrow and for some reason
decided to GO BACK to wherever it was that you came from? You would have broken
the covenant with the Messiah. You would have ‘reneged on the contract’ that was
written and signed in His blood.
I want you to realize that it was a
promise and that it is only a matter of integrity, if nothing else, for you to
keep that promise. In fact the mere fact that you justify yourself about
leaving salvation and returning to where you came from is in itself a warning
to you that what you did was not right. You must have no reason whatsoever to
justify yourself if you think that what you did is the right thing. In fact,
you should not even talk about it – it is so shameful.
You cannot have known the sweetness
of Christ and of salvation and then turn your back on Him. Although, I do not
profess to know any of these religions I know that when you give your life to
Christ there are things that you used to do that you will not do anymore.
Take for instance, before I knew
Christ and gave my life to Him, I used to dress so indecently and continued to
do so when I gave my life to Him. However, somewhere along the way, He changed
me. He simply walked into my closet while I was getting dressed and commanded
me not to put on a certain pair of trousers and to empty my closet of all miniskirts
and mini suits. I must tell you that I emptied ninety-nine percent of my wardrobe
and it has not yet returned to half of what I had then. However, my joy is in
the fact that I now dress mostly to please my Master than anything else. In
fact, the Holy Spirit will at times convict me of the length of my dresses so I
have to give them away. Now, this is only a fraction of what living a life of salvation
is really like. We also get to act and think in a way that is pleasing to
Christ unlike how we used to behave before we gave our lives to Him. In other
words, you cannot know Christ and cling on to your former lifestyle. You cannot
know Christ in the real sense and then be able to turn your back on Him.
I always relate salvation to
marriage. Now, when you decide to marry or get married to someone you have
chosen him or her among many. If your union is divine and okayed by GOD, you
(the man) are the ribcage out of which she was taken or you (the woman) are the
rib that was taken out of him. You belong with each other and GOD Himself has
joined you together spiritually, even before you were born, but physically when
you do get married. You become one flesh and should not be separated. If we can
look at salvation as the physical union between each of us and Christ, our
delinking ourselves of Him would then be like divorce! However, you and I know
that GOD hates divorce and equates it to violence! Why then would you want to
extricate yourself from the only one out of whom you were taken or for whom you
were made? When you make a decision to walk out of salvation, you are in
essence saying that, ‘I made a mistake. This is not going to work because we
are incompatible. Let me return to my ‘ex’ because he or she is actually better
than Christ’!
When we say the sinner’s prayer, we
make a vow to GOD and we should be careful to keep it.
Consequently, my dear, I need you to
recommit your life to Christ. I need you to take a moment and reconsider your
decision to walk away.
GOD BLESS YOU.
Prayer
Dear GOD, when I gave my life to you,
I made a vow that I intend to keep. Regardless, of what trials I face, I will
not turn my back on your Son. I ask you to give me the grace never to return to
my vomit. In JESUS’ name, I have prayed, amen.
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