Are You Saved?

Saved – The Christian slang for “going to heaven.” Are you?

And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. (Luke 8:4-15 ESV)

After Valiant last night, I came home encouraged by the faith and honesty of our teenagers but frustrated by the sin that tries to entangle them! The topic was heavy. I’m very thankful that the girls feel free to open up and seek advice. I love that they encourage and support one another. We ALL deal with sin. These girls open up their hearts, lay their troubles out and say “What do I do about this?” It’s amazing.

None of us can get through this life without support! It’s too tough no matter who you are. Find a place to get connected.

Let’s face it. Sin is so rampid and enticing that half the time we don’t even see sin as sin or we don’t care. We make jokes about our sin; we welcome it. We bend and mold the scripture to fit our lifestyle and circumstances. I’m talking about us, adults, not teenagers. We are worse because we can logically think and reason. We choose sin and feel no remorse. At least teenagers, generally speaking, feel guilt and desire God’s blessing on their future.

We are numb to sins consequences. We gripe about our lives and wonder why God doesn’t answer our prayers. We wonder why we feel he doesn’t take care of us.

Dig deep, open up your heart, take a look at what’s there.

Let’s call sin what it is. Are you choking yourself by the riches and cares and pleasures of life? Are you letting the devil come and take the word from your hearts so that you may no longer believe and be saved? Did you believe for a while, then after a time of testing, fall away? I think the “once saved always saved” mentality should get tossed out the window after reading these verses. He is boldly saying, “Hey you might have believed once, but that doesn’t mean you will always believe.”

And what is “believing” exactly? In my opinion, believing is living like He said to live because that is what He said to do. Believing is mostly definitely not getting the best of both worlds. It isn’t saying you believe but living like you do not.

This is real stuff! Whether or not we want to take God serious, He is real. He made us. He created our brains. We aren’t smarter than Him. Sin is sin and deep down we know it. We cannot walk around doing everything we want to do and honestly believe it is okay. Do you want to live a blessed life, the one God desires for you? Do you want Him to answer your prayers? Do you want Him to make you happy? Then start following Him wholeheartedly.

Love Him, respect His rules and see what He does for you. Are you saved? Are you going to Heaven? Take a look at your life. Is it centered on God? Do you call sin what it is? Do you see your sin and ask God to forgive you and change you or do you enjoy it too much to leave it behind?

God is good and gracious. He loves us. He doesn’t give us rules to keep us from the good stuff. He is the good stuff! It’s not impossible to live for Him. He empowers us. He gives us strength and shelter. Nothing or no one on Earth will ever do for you what He can.

Do you need help distinguishing what is sin or figuring out how to get on track? Do you need to ask God into your heart for the first time or the 10th time? Do you need a group you trust to help support you through these issues? Message me! I’d love to hear from you. If I can’t help I know a lot of people at The Church at Indian Lake who can. I’ll get you connected with someone.

Don’t wait! God is worth every effort. He is amazing.