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Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Isaiah 58:6

A biblical faith has no tolerance for so-called devotion to God wherein we shut our eyes to the needs around us. Isaiah confronted the people who were unjust in their personal dealings, who neglected brotherly responsibility toward their fellow human beings, and still sought to have a time of spiritual renewal through fasting and prayer. Even if they lay in sackcloth and ashes, even if they went days without food, God was not moved by their actions, nor were they better off for having done it.

God calls us not just to pray and study but also to proclaim and serve. Whenever we emphasize only one of these we will have our spiritual life out of balance. There are times when God leads us up into the mountains for a spiritual experience, but spiritual renewal must always eventually leads us down into the valley of service; the test of whether our worship was real is if our witness is lived out.

To evaluate the past year it is not enough just to note how many times we attended church, or opened our Bible, or prayed in earnest, but also to consider how many people were touched because we did so. This is true for us as individuals and as churches. It is not enough for a church to have wonderful music, impressive preaching, efficient programs, and an enjoyable fellowship - it must also have compassion to the lost and to the sick and to the poor, and to be just in our dealings. Our worship is incomplete until we do.

Where does your faith touch the world? Where do you make a difference for Christ? Pray, worship, learn, and grow in your faith, but also live out your faith in your work place, give to missions, help the needy in the name of Christ.

Evening Devotionals life, service, worship

…making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Ephesians 5:16

It would appear from any angle of observation that the Christian faith is at worst benign and harmless, and at best wonderful and uplifting. It lifts people from their sins to fellowship with God, from being judged by God as guilty sinners to becoming sons of the Most High. In the gospel an individual is given the opportunity to consider his spiritual condition, to repent from his sins and recommit himself to God, to draw near to the Almighty on the basis of the merits of Jesus Christ.

Some may be tempted to pass the entire matter off as a message of redemption to the losers of the world, a message of hope to those who have no integrity and who need all the mercy that might come their way. They may laugh at it and reject it on the basis of science or psychology or higher education or whatever. They may consider it an invention of humanity and therefore, illogical and irrelevant and a mere fantasy.

But then comes persecution and hatred against the believer in Christ, and the validity of the gospel story is upheld - the world really does hate truth and seeks to stamp out love and compassion whenever and wherever it might exist. Sooner or later the skeptic must admit that the gospel of love, grace, mercy, and redemption is very disturbing to some. The gospel gives hope and who is against people having hope? Well, someone is, that is for sure, because this message, this Savior, and His followers are opposed.

The apostle wrote 2,000 years ago (give or take) that the days are evil, and has there been anything to refute this? Has there come across the conscience or the experience of humanity any tangible or provable idea that the days we live in are not evil? No. They are. And therein lies the proof of the Christian faith. That a benign faith that offers hope and forgiveness, salvation and redemption is opposed validates its claims. The Lord of Glory was crucified and anyone who dares to aver that there is hope for fallen humanity will face rejection, ridicule, and persecution.

But the only question that matter is where you stand on this issue? Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? Do you believe that He died in your place and rose from the grave? Do you believe that people need the grace and the life that He offers? If you do then count yourself among His followers.

apologetics gospel, grace, hope, life