God, the designer of man gave mankind the will to choose how to live in this world. God did this for His own divine purpose. I believe He made it this way so that man can have the option to work as much as he/she can to please God and build to the heavenly reward (1 Corinthians 3:11-14). If God had made man to be robots that automatically do His will, then He probably would have made the reward to be the same yet we are taught that it will be according to what each one had done while living in the body (2 Corinthians 5:10).
The way it is, as we know it, is that man should decide how he/she shall live in this world. If at all we understood the real purpose of why we exist according to God’s plan, we would tirelessly work at pleasing God and fulfilling His purpose.
What is God’s work?
God’s work is living to do what He commanded. Such commandments are recorded in full in the Bible. I will quote a few of them as listed in the Bible. Do note that I believe in the trinity of God and therefore whatever Jesus said is as good as an instruction from God the Father and that of the Holy Spirit.
In Matthew 28:29 and part of verse 30 Jesus commanded, ‘Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: …’ These are the last two verses of the Gospel of Matthew and they are directing the believer to practice and share all that is taught in all previous chapters.
In Matthew 22:37 – 39 Jesus declares, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ According to these verses, loving God and others is the practice of doing God’s work.
Why take the trouble?
There is no point in deceiving one another by compromising what the Bible teaches because such practice will not only be judged but it also does not change the truth. It is a fact that some of the commandments given to man by God may provoke others to anger when they realize that their lifestyle is not in line with what God expects. The sad reality is that any option besides that of committing to doing God’s work is not acceptable to Him.
When we read in the book of Leviticus chapter 3 to 5, we learn that God knows that people can fall into sin unintentionally. This should at least give us some comfort in that God understands our struggle with sin this world. At that time, God provided a way out of sin through animal sacrifice. Today, the way out of sin is through confession and abandonment of sin.
We are called to continuously grow in faith as God is not happy with a person that draws back (Hebrews 10:38). Growth can only come if you make an effort to feed your soul with the word of God. Man cannot live on bread alone but also by every word that come from God’s mouth (Matthew 4:4). If we practice what God teaches, miracles will manifest, joy and inward satisfaction will abound. When we experience the benefits of our belief in God’s word,we should give all the glory back to Him.
My other formula for growth is listing to sermons by pastors that I feel contribute to my spiritual life. Listening to sermons by the following pastors, which I also recommend to you, has helped me grow in my Christian journey.
- Zac Poonen from CFC India
- Abraham Yakubu from Nigeria
- Bill Weise from America
Repeatedly listening to their teachings and contrasting them with the Bible helped me a lot to understand the God we serve and the enemy we fight.
Revised: 30 Jan 2018
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