DO YOU RECLINE, WHINE OR SHINE!

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

Philippians 2:12 13

“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

 

We are not to Recline as Christians.

 

We are often tempted as Christians to coast on our initial salvation experience. The big day of our conversion is over. We’ve accepted Christ as our Savior, so we think we can just lie around until the Lord comes to take us home. Nothing could be further from the truth. Two scripture passages warn us of reclining our Christian lives away. Matthew 25 has several examples of the necessity of living for Christ by doing the works of a faithful servant. The parable of the talents in verses 14:30 demonstrates the importance of being a responsible steward of our talents, time and treasures.

 

The gift of life and salvation were not meant to be wasted. God grants us eternal life so that we can bring glory to Him and bring others into the Kingdom. As we minister to the needs of all those we come in contact with, we demonstrate the substance of our faith. We prove that salvation has actually taken place when we take action in our lives. Accepting Christ as Lord of our lives is not purely the acknowledgment of the fact that He died for us and rose from the grave. If we really accept Christ as our Master, we no longer belong to ourselves and will not seek our will but His.

 

Luke 12:35-40 presents us with an analogy for us to consider. Here we are given the following word of encouragement, “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes…. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. …You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Here we are told that we should anticipate the return of our Lord at any moment. Notice it tells us to be dressed ready for service. We must be always, ready and willing, to serve those we come in contact with. We won’t always be given warning of when we can serve our Lord. Notice also that we are to have our “lamps burning.” We are to let the light of God, which resides within us to shine for God’s glory. If we aren’t ready to serve God and others, if we fail to let our light shine, we could be caught unexpected at the surprise return of our Master, Jesus Christ.

 

Hebrews 6:10-12 gives us another word of encouragement, which would provoke us to good works. It states, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” We are told here that reclining and resting on our rears is not what Christians are to do. We are to imitate those mentioned in scripture that were faithful witnesses of God’s purposes.

 

Hebrews 11 mentions numerous individuals who were faithful examples of those who trusted God and worked hard to serve Him and bring Him glory. We are to imitate these faithful saints, as well as those around us who are diligent at being responsible servants of Jesus Christ. The persistent attention we give to living out our Christian life and ministering to others does not help us in any way to earn our salvation. It simply demonstrates that we have a deep love for our Heavenly Father and desire to serve as active members of His Kingdom. It is proof that salvation has actually taken place. It is evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts, minds and souls.

 

We are not to Whine as Christians.

 

Another temptation we have as Christians is to whine, grumble and complain. It doesn’t matter what might initiate it. Sometimes we just complain because we enjoy it. We often justify it as relieving stress or venting our frustrations. We grumble about all sorts of things, big and small, important and meaningless. Sometimes we might even catch ourselves grumbling about our grumbling, or grumbling about someone else’s grumbling. 1 Corinthians 10:10 refers to an incident in the Old Testament when it says, “And do not grumble, as some of them did and were killed by the destroying angel.” Israel was rescued from the slavery of Egypt to travel to the Promised Land, but they were a grumbling, complaining and whining people. Many were killed for this and the curse of wandering in the wilderness for 40 years was their reward for not trusting God in their circumstances.

 

We grumble and whine when we lose our patience or fail to allow the Holy Spirit to manifest the fruits of the Spirit in us. We complain when we selfishly look at our situation and lose our focus on the cross and our Savior. James 5:8-9 states, “You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” Here we are instructed to be patient and stand firm. Being patient is not always easy and being patient without whining is often impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit.

 

Whining is a sign of immaturity. Any parent can testify to this fact. If you have ever attempted to take a child into a supermarket or worse, a toy store, you know what I mean. The cacophony of noises and shrieks that can come from such a small individual, as they are not allowed their own way is amazing. Their persistence is embarrassing as they pull, tug, wriggle and writhe to get their way. Their grumbling and complaining is a direct reflection of their lack of emotional and psychological growth. Our spiritual growth, or lack of it, is also reflected in amount of complaining and whining we do.

 

We are called to SHINE as Christians

 

When we receive the Holy Spirit at conversion, we are reborn. We are a new creation meant to fellowship with God as His child. The witness we have as new creatures in Christ is a representation of the hope that is found in none other than Jesus Himself. In John 1:4 5 it states, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” Here we see Christ represented as light because His holiness, purity and purposes are to reveal truth to all men, the truth that the only way to have a relationship with God is through Him, the Savior. Jesus Himself stated this in John 8:12 where He says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” This light also shines forth from Christians, those who choose to follow Christ, as servants of His will. But this light does not shine automatically.

 

Unless we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, unless we put action to our words, unless we seek to obey God’s word through our behavior, the light is hidden, smothered and hindered from being seen by those around us. Matthew knew this when he wrote in Matthew 5:15 16 “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Paul also wrote of this in 2 Corinthians 4:5 “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

 

So you see, we are called to let Christ shine in our lives by the words we say, the activities we are involved in, the ministries we serve in and the manner in which we worship our Heavenly Father. We can’t let His light shine if we are reclining and refusing to work out our salvation by demonstrating our love for Him when we walk our talk. We can’t let His light shine if we are whining and complaining about how things don’t go our way. His light shines when we seek His will, allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and are ready, willing and able to live for our Savior.

 

Don’t recline. Don’t whine.

SHINE!

 

Philippians 2:14 16

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.”