“Just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us” – Luke 1:2

The beginning of Luke’s gospel is a wonderful reassurance for our skeptical age. Luke explains that he conducted meticulous research and eyewitness interviews. Under the direction and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Luke wrote an organized, sound, evidence-based history of the conception, birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. He did this so that we can be confident about what we’ve been taught, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, our Resurrected Lord and Savior!

The Christian faith isn’t built on legend or myth. The gospel accounts weren’t written hundreds of years later. Our faith in Jesus is rooted in the personal experience and eyewitness testimony of those who were with Him at every stage of His earthly life. Our faith is a rational, grounded, reasonable faith. As extraordinary as the idea of physical resurrection is, we can trust that it actually happened, because the people who talked with, ate with, and touched the risen Jesus shared their stories. They also invested their lives and deaths in repeating those stories to anyone who would listen.

Are there things that are difficult to understand or explain about our faith? Of course, that’s why it requires faith. Nonetheless, that doesn’t make them less true! Trust the Bible. Rejoice in the orderly, eyewitness accounts God has provided for us through inspired authors of Scripture. Trust Jesus! #FollowJesus

“Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.”
– Psalm 33:8-9

Take a moment to consider… God SPOKE the universe into existence. He didn’t go into His workshop and hammer away for awhile. He didn’t perform various tests and experiments. He didn’t develop models and prototypes. God spoke and everything came into existence from nothing. Extraordinary!!!!

That’s power beyond anything we can remotely comprehend! Humans have created beautiful and amazing things. But they always require time and materials. God didn’t need either of those. He spoke, and it came to be. Think about that and simply be in awe of God! Take time to praise Him for His power to create which is infinitely beyond our capacity to create. Be in wonder. Be in awe. Worship your Creator!

In practical terms, we often take God lightly. Our culture is dismissive toward Him. It trivializes Him as “the man upstairs” if it acknowledges Him at all. Even as Christians, we can be so focused on the truth of His love and kindness toward us that we forget God’s awesome majesty and authority as our Creator. Never lose sight of His love and relationship with you in Jesus Christ but immerse yourself in awe and reverence for Him. Let your mind be blown away by His power, His transcendence, and His holiness. Praise God. #FollowJesus

“You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” – Leviticus 20:26

This is the essential principle at the root of most Old Testament Law. God is profoundly, perfectly holy. He is apart from ordinary things and separated from sinful creation. There is no hint or shadow of sin in Him. He chose Israel to be His people and because He is holy, they must be holy. They must avoid sin, both public and private. And they must do things that make them distinctly different from their pagan neighbors. Some of the stranger-seeming laws of the Old Covenant are rooted in helping a newly formed people keep themselves distinctly different from their neighbors. Why? So they won’t imitate the sinful actions or worship the false gods revered by their neighbors.

Why does any of that matter today? If you’re a Christian, you aren’t under the Old Covenant, you’re under God’s New Covenant of grace. Praise Jesus for that! But guess what? We’re also commanded to be holy. The New Testament repeatedly commands us to reject sin, crucify temptation in our hearts, and imitate Jesus. We’re commanded to be part of the world and yet fundamentally set apart from its sinful elements and practices. We are supposed to be different because God’s Spirit lives within us.

If Jesus is your Lord, then you must be holy. Why? Because your Lord is holy and you are His temple! Jesus has made you His own, buying your freedom from sin and death at the cost of His own life. You are to be distinctly different from unbelieving neighbors, relatives, and coworkers. You are to desire the things of God, love the people of God, obey the Word of God, and think, speak, and act like Jesus. That’s what it is to be holy in the New Covenant. Be holy because your Lord and Savior is holy! #FollowJesus

“Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.”
– Psalm 31:9

King David teaches us to be completely honest with God. He isn’t afraid to tell God when he is upset, discouraged, sad, sorrowful, depressed, or afraid. He pours out his heart to God but always does so in a way that honors God. No matter what strong emotions David expresses to God, he always circles back to his faith and trust in the Lord. He knows that however much emotional pain he may be enduring, God is present, God is faithful, God is listening, and God is good. David sometimes struggles with God’s timing but never doubts that God’s timing is perfect.

Let the psalms guide you into a deeper, more open relationship with God. Many Christians imagine they should only express happy thoughts to God but that simply isn’t true. When we wear masks around God it artificially constrains our spiritual life. It keeps our prayer conversations at a very superficial level. Don’t let that happen to you!

God already knows your heart, so don’t worry about being honest with Him. Tell Him of your struggles, sorrows, and agonies. Speak to Him day and night. Imitate David by doing this in faith. Trust and say that God is good. Trust and say that He is for you (after all, He sacrificed His Son to rescue you). Trust and say that He is with you. Trust and say that He will never leave or forsake you in struggles. #FollowJesus

“Lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” – Mark 13:36-37

Followers of Jesus must be serious about doing our Lord’s work! He’s promised He’ll return and made clear that when He does, it will be without advance notice. There will be signs, but those honestly describe our daily headlines: wars, rumors of wars, natural disasters, and great evil at work in the world. Jesus could return today or thousands of years from now. Either way, we’re commanded to be awake, alert, and active.

When Jesus returns, will He find that His followers have been faithful? Will He be pleased about how we’ve used our time on Earth? Will He be pleased with how you’ve used your time? Our Lord gave us an assignment, commanded us to make disciples for Him from every ethnic group and nation. We are to go throughout the entire world, introducing people to Him, welcoming new believers into the faith with baptism, and teaching those believers to obey Jesus and make disciples as well. This is the fundamental task of every Christian and of the church as a whole.

Across the past twenty centuries, there have been times when Christians have obeyed our Master well. There have also been times when the church was clearly asleep. What would Jesus find if He returned today? Are you awake and active for Him? Or is it time to wake up, remind yourself that your life is not your own, and invest your time, talent, and treasure in building Christ’s Kingdom rather than your own? #FollowJesus