The Most Important Thing

-Bill Petite  March 1 2015

Christians, we need to stop, look around at the world and the events which are making the biggest headlines. It is so important that we are aware of where we are on God's timetable. We need to be sure we can account properly for our time each day; are we frivolously wasting away valuable time which we could use letting the unsaved know about Jesus or are we telling them what they need to know? Are we busy posting Facebook stuff about the shambles in our political society or are we using that media to let others know about Jesus? We need to be aware of the most important thing in our lives, Jesus! We must make it a priority to tell others, who don't know, all about Jesus and what He has done for each and every one of us. Time is getting short.

Now, I'm not one of those radical prophecy nuts declaring every little thing that happens is a sign. I'm not in the habit of imitating Chicken Little declaring the sky is falling every time something appears to line up with some end time prophecy and I don't go around looking for a demon under every rock. But, if any Christian knows anything concerning the events leading up to the end, it is obvious we are close and easy to see. As Christians, we should know what the Bible tells us concerning these things. Jesus had this to say about knowing the time we live.

Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right.  When the south wind blows, you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is.  You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times.    LK 12:54-56  NLT

I have felt the Lord impressing upon my heart for the past few weeks how close we are. I see the events of this world each day and know how they are fitting right into place with what the Bible tells us will happen prior to His taking the Church out of this world. As I said earlier, I am not one of those, "The end is near!" kind of people but, the end is near and each day I see more and more stuff which is proof. Of course, those who are not Christians will say I'm a kook, just another nut job attempting to scare people into believing in some religion. Well, my goal is not about religion, it is about a relationship with Jesus, my savior. And, if it is fear that will bring people to their knees in repentance, then good. The unsaved people of this world should be afraid; if you don't know Jesus, you will die in your sin and spend eternity in torment, extreme torment. That is not a scare tactic, it is absolute truth. There are so many non-believers in the world who not only reject Jesus, but they violently reject Him! The truth is, there will be those who will continue to reject Jesus and will suffer eternally. That is true. There is no universal salvation and being good gets nobody saved. The most important thing in this life is Jesus and surrendering to Him. He put Himself on the cross to die in our place. That paid the penalty for our sin. He then defeated death by rising from the dead to new life, giving new life to us when we know Him as our savior and Lord. No strings, no tricks, no cultish lifestyle, just life with Him. He is God and God is love. That is the most important thing.

So, as a Christian, how many unsaved people have you told about Jesus? How many people do you work with every day who don't know Him? The work place is one of the most fertile places for evangelism. Pray and ask the Lord to open doors so you can talk to these people. He will do that if you ask. Social media is another great place to share Jesus but all too often it turns into a slamming session. Jesus never said anything in the gospel writings about arguing people into the kingdom, we simply tell them. He told His disciples they would be persecuted for telling others about Him so why should we think we are any different. We should expect the unsaved to call us bigots, narrow minded simpletons and many other labels they like to attach to us. If we use the social media sites to spread the gospel, that's great but we should shy away from the arguments and strong opinions. If you are challenged, take it to private messages and reason it through. Those who are not into the Christians life will read these arguments and be turned off by the whole thing. I have had to block certain people for the simple purpose of not allowing others on my page to see the nonsense or the back and forth of comments which could turn some away from even considering Christianity. We have to be really careful when posting on social media; pray for guidance concerning posts which could cause controversy. I am all for being bold when posting but we need to be sure Jesus is at the heart of the message, not us.

Finally, as Christians, we must know what belongs in our lives and what doesn't. We should be taking inventory every day and asking the Lord to help us keep our hearts clean. The Holy Spirit will tap us on the shoulder to remind us when we begin to stray off the well traveled Christian path. We need to be an encourager, lifting up those who might be down spiritually. Don't be a spiritual policeman; we don't know each other's hearts. The Lord will tell us when we need to encourage a fellow believer. He will never tell us to be the spiritual cop and begin to interrogate someone concerning their faith. He will help us with the gift of discernment and He will tell us when we need to rebuke someone. It will always be done in love, never as a cop, interrogating someone concerning their faith or their morals. The Bible tells us to redeem the time and that is what we must do in these times. We can degrade ministries we disagree with and go on long rants concerning the current president or we can encourage each other in the Lord and be a witness to the unsaved. I have done all these things and I am as guilty as anyone when it comes to doing the wrong things but now it is time to concentrate on the most important thing, Jesus and His soon return! So, we should be in the word, studying to show ourselves approved and knowing how to interpret it properly. Not the way some smooth talking TV preacher tells us to or how we hear it on YouTube or even worse, the History Channel. Your relationship with Jesus is between you and Him. If you are sincere in that relationship, He will be the perfect guide through your time here on earth. Remember, He is the most important thing and time is running out.