WHAT IS ESSENTIAL TO YOU?

[Jesus_is_LORD]

What is essential to your faith walk?

Value is defined as "the regard that something is held to deserve, the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. As the world reacts in different ways to the covid-19/corona virus, the concept of values smacks us dead in the face. Given the need to limit public travel yet still allowing important or "essential" services, businesses, and organizations, local governments are having to make some critical value judgments. For example, in the state of Maryland, liquor stores have been deemed essential, thus remain open, while churches have been deemed nonessential, thus are required to close during this state of emergency.
In the aisle of the grocery store, shoppers can be seen placing a high value on toilet paper and hand sanitizer. At the same time, vitamins/nutritional supplements and Bibles remain on the shelf in abundance. As Christians, these times provide us an opportunity to self-reflect on our own spiritual walk. As a Christian, what do you deem essential?


Jesus said, in John 15:5 "... without me ye can do nothing ..." reminding us that staying connected with Him is essential to the Christian walk. Furthermore, reminding us that this connection is foster through the gathering of saints Jesus also said in Matthew 20:18, "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." In such times when two or three may not be able to gather to foster the connection with Jesus, the essential-ness of connecting with Jesus (John 15:5) remains. As a Christian, what do you see as essential to your Christian connection to Christ?
How much value do you put on reading the Bible daily? What is your regard for the usefulness of prayer? How important would you say that daily praise is to your faith walk? Is it essential for you to making quiet times of silence to hear God speak daily?


Generally speaking, when we fail to obtain something truly essential, the consequence may not be immediate death; however, there is often a decreased capacity to operate at full capacity. For example, not eating your essential vitamins may not immediately lead to death, but it will lead to a reduction in energy and the onset of many health impairments. Similarly, Christians neglecting the essentials of their daily spiritual walk may not be on their way to hell. However, they may be settling for a mediocre spiritual life when they could be living a more abundant and fruitful life in Christ. In a spiritually dead world, it is not surprising that governments may deem churches nonessential and liquor stores as essential. However, as a Christian, this reality leads use to candidly self-reflect and ask ourselves if we have made ourselves an essential part of our communities? Perhaps the people desire to have the liquor stores open because they feel that the liquor store is doing something for them (commerce, preventing alcohol withdraws, etc). Yet the world will never see the church as an essential if we as Christians are not living a life in which we personally make Jesus an essential part of our life. Let us not settle for the spiritual toilet paper of worldly comfort or the spiritual hand sanitizer of security, when we can have the essential Christ.

-------So, What is essential to your faith walk?
-WNL

 

[Jesus_is_LORD]

THE ESSENTIAL CHRIST