Follower or Faker
I will confess that I’ve been through periods in my life when my faith was shaken. I struggled to believe everything I said I believed. Thankfully those times are way back in my rear view mirror. They were still pretty intense and scary for me. I am so thankful that the Lord was patient as I worked through that time of struggle. I’ve said many times before that I believe that my behavior comes directly from my heart. My heart can be diseased and deceived by sin. Sin is smooth and sometimes subtle as it sneaks into my heart. As I follow the Lord daily, it’s way easier to see the sin that seeks to entangle me and tear me down. I am in such a different place today and I really want to stay faithful digging into His Word for direction and guidance for my life. I find the Lord’s heart in His Word.
As I’m journeying through 1 Kings, there were three different kings of Israel and 2 different kings of Judah. I found it interesting how they were introduced in scripture. After telling their name, they told of their parent or ancestral heritage, and then they told the length of their reign. The next descriptive line told the real story of their life. Check this out….
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned for twenty-four years. 34 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. (1 Kings 15:33-34 NIV)
11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done. (1 Kings 15:11 NIV)
When my life comes to an end, I will have answered the questions as to whether I’m a follower or a fake. I do think that there are lots of people who fake their faith and when it’s tested, they fold or fall on their face. I have learned to lean hard into my faith when my struggles with sin are the strongest. I need the Lord’s help to resist and flee from temptation. I need His Wisdom to run from stupid choices that seek to destroy me. I want to be known as a man who followed the Lord fully and was faithful throughout my days.
If you know me and are a friend, I hereby give you permission to challenge my faith journey. You can ask me the hard questions. You can challenge anything and everything I do. I would rather you ask those questions and challenge my behavior to my face than to whisper that behind my back. I really want to keep growing in my faith and my obedience to the Lord. I really do make every effort to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord in everything I do. I want to be a trusted, devoted follower of God not a fake follower.
Pressing On!
Dwayne