HEBREWS 4:11–13 – Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

THEME OF THE DAY:  THE 24/7 CHRISTIAN.  If we are Christians, we are “whole” Christians meaning we are “all in with Jesus”, and that in two ways – our position or union with Him and our practice or living for Him.  The Bible describes a believer as being “in Christ” and this dominant theme appears over 160 times in the New Testament.  So, the question is not are we 24/7 Christians by our position in Christ, but are we 24/7 Christians in practice as one following Christ? That will be determined by our attitude and action found in today’s scripture.

In the Hebrews’ text, we are told something we know – all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account but don’t always apply in our thinking and especially when tempted. I think a lot of us would confess we know more Bible truth than we live, yet, let’s move on.  Not to overuse the number 24/7 in today’s nugget, but I will . . .

We live the Christian life 24/7 before the always present Lord who observes every website we visit, every social media post we read or post, every movie we watch, and listens to every conversation we have. The healthy Christian welcomes such scrutiny and rejoices; the hypocrite and worldly Christian not at all and should cringe in fear.

So as we seek to please the Lord in all things at all times – actions, attitude, and speech – how do we cultivate the awareness, felt and unfelt, that we are constantly living in His Presence?  This is a challenge as life comes at us with much force and loud voices to distract us from such a mindset.  Well, this might not be as complex as we might think.  I am not making the development of living the 24/7 Christian life an easy pursuit, but it is not complex.  And I believe tied indirectly to what we also find in today’s scripture – a reference to the power of the Word of God; For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Everything God does is through His Word.  He spoke creation into the world, new birth is by His Word, and spiritual growth is by His Word (1 Peter 1:23; 2:1-3).

If we are to develop the 24/7 practice of the Christian life it starts with a regular (daily even) diet of the Word of God to renew our minds and shape our thinking.  The simple, not easy, but simple, way to this type of mind making us aware of the Lord’s constant presence is to have a mind saturated with how we know Him – the Word of God. The direction is in the letter to the Colossians – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16).  Here is where the practice of the 24/7 life begins. Immerse ourselves in His Word and watch how our awareness of His Presence in our lives, 24/7, grows!  

PRAYER: “Father, help me live as a Christian all the time, in private, in public, sincere before You.”

QUOTE: “We talk and act always in an audience of two; self and the Lord – a great truth for help and accountability.”

Because of Him,

Pastor Jim