I Have Decided

I Have Decided

1 John 2:6

Introduction – Have any of you made any life decisions today? Maybe not. Have you ever thought about how profound a statement it is when someone comes to you and says, “I have decided…” About six weeks ago Chris came into our bedroom and said that he had decided to go to Northern Illinois University. That was and is a big decision, because whenever we make a final decision and decide to do or not to do something it is in light of all the other things that vie for our attention.

OK, maybe you didn’t make any life choices today, but what about the daily choices you were asked to make. Did you decide to follow Jesus today? Or have all the other choices that you have before you out weighed your decision to follow Him?

There is something that we need understand if we are going to purposefully follow Christ: Fellowshipping with Him is walking as He walked. Each of us throughout the day have decided whether or not we will follow Jesus. Tomorrow we will have to decide again, and then the day after that, and the day after that, and so on until we are face to face with Christ in eternity.

With that in mind—like it or not—the question comes back to you: What have you decided today? Can you honesty say…

I. I Have Decided to Live in Jesus

When we decide to live in Jesus, we are choosing to remain with Him, to dwell with Him, to find the source of our daily life in Him.

That perpetual presence of Christ in our lives speaks of the “relationship” we have with Him as Christians.

Paul told those gathered at Mars Hill in Athens who were ignorantly worshipping that “in him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28 Jesus is our life!

It is this life, given by God to us that defines who we are, and gives us the substance of our existence. We exist in Christ, and for Christ. John recorded Jesus as saying, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must

remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

These verses clearly teach us that Jesus and Jesus alone is the one who gives us life.

Before we can make Jesus our life we have to have some strong beliefs about Him that we will not waver from. We have to believe that Jesus is God the Son born in human flesh. That Jesus totally paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross. That Jesus rose from the grave to give us life, abundant and eternal. That Jesus is right now preparing a place called heaven as

the eternal reward for all those who believe in Him.

That Jesus continues to make the offer of salvation to all people everywhere who will confess and believe in Him. That Jesus will one day return to claim His bride, the church, and will take us to our eternal home.

Do you all believe those things? Is your commitment to that set of beliefs causing you to unconditionally follow Him? Is your relationship with Jesus drawing you closer to Him so as to allow you to follow Him regardless of where you are and what you are doing?

Can we honestly say that we are living in such a way that as best we are able what we are doing is a reflection of our personal relationship with Jesus?

Al Kaline, was a brilliant outfielder for the Detroit Tigers in the 60’s and 70’s and is know a member of the baseball Hall of Fame. At the time of his enshrinement in the Hall of Fame he was honored at dinner that was attended by 2,500 people. After he was introduced with a long litany of his baseball achievements he came to the podium to a standing ovation. During the course of his remarks he said “There must be something more to life than this—chasing a lot of fly balls, getting a lot of base hits, and making more money than you can spend.”

Is your heart asking, “There must be something more to my life relationship with Jesus than this?” Maybe you have substituted involvement with a project called church rather than a person called Christ. Have you worked up this neat belief system that you can turn

to rather than entering into a relationship with the Savior?

There is something more than this, but we will never know it until we follow after the One who calls unto us saying: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28