What Club?

6-24-2009

I had a conversation with a young man about “church” and I was shocked at some of the questions. He asked me what the cost is to go to church, and how do you get in. It was as if he thought going to church was liking joining a club in which you had to be invited in, and the way in was to do certain things for people. As I listened and answered the questions, I couldn’t help but wonder how many others have the same types of questions.

When Jesus spoke, people listened, and when he said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near,” (Matthew 4:17) his followers wanted to know what they had to do to get in heaven. Can you imagine listening to the savior of the world lay out the behavior and attitudes of the blessed and the fear of loss that sets in when you realize you need to do whatever you can to get in His kingdom!

The title of this devotional is what club? The reason for this title is there isn’t a club! We are all one body, and those of us that accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior know where we are going when our life on earth is over. The message Jesus lays out for us is very clear, repent and live a blessed life that honors God. If people on earth would spend one tenth the amount of time living for God as they do trying to satisfy their worldly cravings, imagine how much better our world would be. If you feel you’re too far on the “bad” end of the spectrum, you aren’t! It’s never too late to turn your life around. In fact, a buddy of mine that I haven’t seen in years looked me up at www.loganstout.com and he emailed me the following question, “When did you get so religious!” You see, when he and I were hanging out, God wasn’t rolling off my tongue at all. My response to him was, “my senior year in high school.” God desires for us all to live a blessed life, and in order to do so, live for him and not for the world, and you will receive the riches of heaven!

Application:
1. Read Matthew 5:1-12
2. Do you live a life of blessedness or does your happiness depend upon earthly events? Earthly events will always let you down!