A Worthy Walk

WALK WORTHY

Colossians 1:9-10

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

INTRO

Last year all of the country seemed to be interested in the law that was passed in Arizona requiring people to prove that they were citizens of this country when they were asked.

. Let me read you a headline from a paper there in Phoenix when this law was challenged by the federal govt.

. Court Strikes Down Ariz. Law Requiring Voters to Prove They Are Citizens. The article went on to say.

. A federal appeals court has struck down a key part of Arizona's law requiring voters to prove they are citizens before registering to vote or casting ballots. Tuesday's decision by a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the law requiring voters to prove their citizenship while registering is inconsistent with the National Voter Registration Act. That federal law allows voters to fill out a mail-in card and swear they are citizens under penalty of perjury, but doesn't require them to show proof as Arizona's law does."

. As I was preparing this message this week, and thinking about this concept, this command that God has given us to walk worthy, I thought about the concept of having to prove that you are who you say that you are.

. What are we to be walking worthy of?

. Paul is saying that we need to be worthy of the Lord.

. We need to be worthy of our citizenship just like the law in Arizona was requiring people to prove that they were citizens.

. This citizenship that we need to be worthy of is our citizenship in Heaven.

. As Christians we are called to be Christ like. That is the definition of a Christian.

. I have a question for you this morning.

. Could you defend yourself in court and prove to a jury that you were a Christian.

Lets explore that for just a minute.

. Your sitting in court and the attorney addresses you.

Att.- Mr. Smith, you understand that you are here this morning to defend your claim that you are a Christian.

Mr. Smith- That is correct. I am a Christian

Att.- Your guidebook. Your instruction book is called the bible; is that correct?

Mr. Smith- Yes that is correct. I believe that the Bible is Gods Word and His Revelation to mankind.

Att. In matt. 22: 36-38 of your instruction manual, Your Jesus says that there are two commandments that everything kind of hinges on in your faith. It says:

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[d] 38 “This is the first and great commandment. 39 “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[e] 40 “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Do you really expect us to believe that you love a being that you have never seen as much as these words say. According to this, this God of yours would have to be the most important person or thing in your life.

Mr.Smith- That is correct. He is.

Att.- Then maybe you can explain these inconsistencies that we have found as we talked to people who know you. We were told that you are consistently given opportunities to share with others this faith that you claim to have but you somehow manage to be busy or find something else that you would rather do. I would think that if you loved someone as much as you claim to do, you would want to tell others about Him.

. If you love someone as deeply as this writing says that you should, I would think that you would want to spend time with that person. From all we can tell, you devote about 1 hour a week to your God. If that’s all the time I gave my family every week, I’m sure I would be looking for a new family.

. How do you explain these things Mr. Smith?

Mr. Smith- Well you don’t understand. I don’t feel comfortable telling people about my faith. I don’t know how. Besides, I thought that was the preacher’s job. Not mine

Att.- What about the lack of effort in spending time with this God whom you claim to love so much.