Article of Faith
Lazy Christians: Take Responsibility -By Seun Elere
Any teaching that encourages irresponsibility is not of God. There is always what to do (John 2:5). We often think that once we are a Christian, everything is automatic – that’s false. You have to take His very light yoke and LEARN of Him.
Christianity is a call to service. The moment you accept Christ as your Lord and savior, you have rights to eternal and goodly living but to access these benefits that salvation carries, you must work. “…continue to WORK out your salvation with fear and trembling” Phil 2:12 NIV. Right is the ground work for access, but your laws can guarantee you right to food and you still die in hunger if access is impeded.
God made Adam and put him in that beautiful garden of Eden with instructions. God never asked the angels to deliver food to Adam morning, day and night, Adam has the responsibility of fetching his own food. He has rights to everything, even the forbidden fruit, but he would have died hungry if he had waited for angels to be delivering food to him. In the same manner, Jesus never offered us a free work in the park, He however asked us to take up His own lighter and easy yoke in place of our heavy burden.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).
What is that light and easy burden of Christ? The word of God. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV. In this kingdom, your depth in the word of God determines your height in life. We have many frustrated christians today because we have many irresponsible christians. Thank God for your life, you attend every Church service, but labour does not equate productivity. You can be laborious and still be very very poor. It is the truth you know that truly sets free John 8:32.
They were two brothers with same right but the younger knew what was due to him and that knowledge granted him access to the father’s wealth (Luke 15:29-31). All these jumping up and down, climbing all manner of mountains looking for who to pray for you is because you have chosen to be an irresponsible Christian. Many christians now pay for people to fast on their behalf, what a shame. Your lack of knowledge is why you are languishing in that situation
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. Hosea 4:6 ESV.
The above scripture started with MY PEOPLE, it means my children (because as Christian we are joint heirs with Christ -Romans 8:17) perish without knowledge. You can be associated with Christ and still perish. Even the just is only sustained by his/her faith (Habakkuk 2:4, Rom 1:17, Gal 3:11, Heb 10:38). When was the last time you opened your Bible to truly read? Placing the Bible under your pillow or above your head rest while sleeping without studying it would only make your nightmares even more scarier. It’s on your phone and many even have voices these days but do you open it the way you open your YouTube, Twitter and TikTok? There you are, ‘believing’ God for all manner of things.
I will highlight three benefits of studying the word of God below:
(a) The word of God grant us access to the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit came into me as he spoke, and he set me on my feet. I listened carefully to his words.” Ezekiel 2:2 NIT. When we study God’s word, the holy ghost penetrates us and gives us light to understand the word. You can’t truly serve God without the holy spirit (John 4:24) and really can’t pray to God without the holy spirit (Romans 8:26). You need the holy spirit at all times to live a comfortable live as a Christian (John 14:16). For a peaceful life, study your Bible to gain access to the light of the holy spirit.
(b) The word of God builds your faith. It is an established fact that no one can please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). The greatest asset we have as Christians is faith. It is your lack of faith that makes you cheap prey of the enemy because it is always to you according to your faith (Mathew 9:29). Don’t be deceived, no one can believe for you – every man or woman must work out his/her own salvation. “I join my faith with your faith” is a ridiculous lie that many christians believe today. You can only access and build your faith through the word of God (Romans 10:17). The cheapest access to anything from God is faith. Faith is simply knowing what God says about you and acting on it. Emphasis on ‘knowing’ because if you know, you would act. Someone with a billionaire father would most certainly not act as someone with economically-humbled parent. The prodigal son knew and acted.
(c) The word of God sanctifies. Your constant study of the word of God purges you of sins. Salvation is different from sanctification. At new birth, all our sins are forgiven but it doesn’t mean that every other sin afterwards would be cleansed (Mathew 12:44-45). Sanctification is a constant cleansing of ourselves and living a sinless life (Ps 119:11; James 1:22-24). When you rent a new apartment, you hire people to go and do deep cleaning of the place – that is what you get at new birth. Salvation gives you that deep (industrial) cleaning but you will still have to sweep and mop the house daily to clean out dirt, this is what sanctification does. Daily cleansing of oneself through the word of God.
Any teaching that encourages irresponsibility is not of God. There is always what to do (John 2:5). We often think that once we are a Christian, everything is automatic – that’s false. You have to take His very light yoke and LEARN of Him. We were called to do great exploits, to be the salt of the world, as a city set on mountain top that can’t be hidden and as signs and wonders to our world but many have refused to put in the work. “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Psalm 119:130 KJV. It means, without the word of God, you will continue to wallow in darkness and suffering. If you can’t put in the work (study the word of God) then, it is aluta continua for you with no victory in sight. Take responsibility, study the word of God to know who you truly are and your heritage in Christ Jesus.
May you enjoy the light of the holy spirit and receive help and comfort as you take responsibility to study God’s word. Amen.
