Giving God Your Best

Giving God Your Best

John 3:16

I want to talk to you about something this morning that I believe is an important issue. It is something that I believe Christians are complacent about. For far too long our churches, those that are born again and washed in the blood have taken this matter too lightly. It is high time that we recognize this matter and accept responsibility for our actions and ask God to forgive us for what we have done. I am just as guilty about this area as much as you are and I believe that God pointed it out to me yesterday. Heaven help us to see this and correct it and get back on track to serving Him.

Before I go any further, you have heard me preach many times that the most important decision that you can ever make in life is not who am I going to marry, its not where am I going to work or what will I do after High School. Or in other words how am I going to support myself and my family (once I get one). Now don't misunderstand me, those decisions are important. And those situations do require some thought. But we have to put perspectives in their right place. Those decisions you make will determine your outcome in this physical world. But, and I want you to hear me, the most important decision you will make concerns the spiritual world. It’s a matter of where you will spend eternity. And I am sure that most, if not all of you will agree with me on that fact. What you need to understand is that making that decision will reveal one of two things. If you accept Heaven as your home, then you are recognizing that Jesus is who He claimed to be and we are what He says we are. That we are sinners in need of a Savior. That He is the only way of salvation. As a matter of fact, Jesus Himself said, John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Yes the moment you understand that, and act on it you have made your decision for who He really is.

But if you are here this morning and you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, believe it or not, you have already made your decision. Look in John 3:18.I am not preaching this morning a salvation message. Although that is a very good topic to preach and it will be mentioned. But I am trying to set the stage for my message. So please bear with me. So the most important decision you will make is a spiritual decision and not a physical one.

I want to talk now to those that are saved this morning for a moment. You have made your decision. Once, like me, you were that one in John 3:18 that was condemned. But praise the Lord, the Holy Spirit convicted you of your sins and you asked Jesus to forgive you and come into your heart. You have confessed with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Amen and Hallelujah for that. But now what? The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Now that you are saved, how are you living your life? Are you spending more of your time trying to get ahead in this world? Or are you more concerned about the things of God? Once you are saved, you will still have decisions to make. Wow! You are probably thinking this morning that there are a lot of decisions that have to be made. There are. What you are going to have to decide is what kind of life are you going to live here on earth? You have accepted Christ but are you living for Him? There are too many Christians that are allowing the things of this world dictate to them on how they live and the decisions that they make. We need to stop living for this world and ourselves and start living for Jesus. Remember what I said about making a decision of where you will spend eternity? It was a matter of spiritual things instead of physical things. The same goes with how we live our lives. Every decision we make should have a thought of how will it affect me spiritually. Please bear with me, I am still trying to set the stage for the message.

As we as Christians live our lives here on earth, the most important thing that we need to be working for are spiritual things. If all we do is as I said a little bit ago try to get ahead in this world and only concentrate on the physical side of things, what eternal good does it do us? It does no eternal good. The things that you are working for down here, say a new car, new boat, a new house or just to have a lot of money in your bank account will do you no good when you get to heaven. All those things that you put your time effort blood sweat and tears in will one day vanish away. There will come a time when the physical things that you cared about down here will not matter anymore. Luke says it best in his book in the 12th chapter starting in verse 16.