We Are Called to Be in a Relationship with God
“Truly, truly, I say to you,
(The Gospel According to John 5: 24 NASB)
he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me,
has eternal life, and does not come into judgment,
but has passed out of death into life.”
There is a Dutch statement, an idiom: “Sleep Like a Rose.” When she spoke those words to me the other day, saying, “I’m going to sleep like a rose,” my only thought (in my English-speaking brain) was screaming like a question—HOW DOES A ROSE SLEEP?
In the English world, we say something similar, an idiom of our culture: “Sleep Like a Baby.” Now we have seen babies sleep, all of us have, and if we are honest, there are times when babies sleep well and other times when they’re up all night and do not sleep well at all.
Please stay with me here for a moment.
I have roses in my landscaping, sick roses, spindly roses, sleeping, dormant roses, & sixteen-year-old roses that just seem tired & dead. Truthfully, I have considered digging up all six rose bushes and replanting something new & vibrant, and something that appears more life-giving. If you saw my roses two weeks ago, you would have seen the ‘sick’ way they appeared. You would have also seen me with my shears, cutting off all the ‘sickness’ that I could possibly cut away from their stems. In my brain, I thought—“I’LL GIVE THEM ONE LAST HURRAH, ONE LAST CHANCE TO PROVE THEIR BEAUTY, THEIR WORTHINESS. HOWEVER, IF THEY STILL LOOK SICK, THEN I WILL ASK MY HUSBAND TO REMOVE THEIR ROOTS FROM THE GROUND.”
There is a song that speaks through melody the truth of God.
The lyrics of “Wake Up Sleeper” by Austin French remind the listener how each person is sleeping, lying dormant, not focused on the ‘SON’ while going through the motion of living.
- Each person needs to encounter God!
- Every individual needs to be touched by the Master!
- Every one of God’s creation needs to pass “out of death into life.”
JESUS CHRIST—
the SON of GOD—
the MESSIAH—
the SAVIOR & REDEEMER—TELLS US EXACTLY HOW!
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, . . .”
The capacity to receive eternal life is conditional—JESUS SAYS SO!
- A person must hear the Word of God.
- An individual must believe God who sent His Only Son Jesus to save mankind.
Then, as a person hears and as that same individual believes what he hears the Holy Spirit speaking through God’s Word—“has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
In the Bible, we are also told why so many refuse to listen & believe in the Gospel TRUTH about GOD’S SON JESUS.
“But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
(The Letter of Paul to the Romans 2: 5-9 NASB)
who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS:
to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immorality,
eternal life;
but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth,
but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.
There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil,
of the Jew first, and also of the Greek,
[the apostle Paul speaks of the Jews & the Gentiles]”
We Are Called to Be in a Relationship with God.
It’s as simple as that.
As we do (enter this relationship that Jehovah God calls us into), our lives are turned upside down & sideways, taking us out of our comfort zone, as the Holy Spirit of God leads us to walk with Jesus in a close, intimate relationship.
This is the ‘WISDOM of GOD’ that we embrace, that which seems so foolish to the watching world.
Thus in closing, let us each look at his own heart, seeing with clarity just exactly where we reside.
Are we going through life but we find ourselves sleepwalking: “Sleeping Like a Rose” & “Sleeping Like a Baby”—definitely walking toward God’s wrath & eternal judgment?
OR
Are we “Walking in New Life” God graciously provides, as we walk with Jesus through this life, “Living as the Holy Spirit Leads Us to Live”—definitely walking toward God’s Promise of Eternal Life?
IT IS A TRUTH—THE CHOICE IS UP TO EACH PERSON, TO EVERY INDIVIDUAL!
NEVERTHELESS—THE DECISION HAS ETERNAL RAMIFICATIONS!
ETERNAL LIFE WITH GOD—WE ARE CALLED TO BE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!
“Truly, truly, I say to you,
(The Gospel According to John 5: 25-27 NASB)
an hour is coming and now is,
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
For just as the Father has life in Himself,
even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;
and He gave Him authority to execute judgment,
because He is the Son of Man.”