The Dog Days of August are upon us. Those hot and humid days that are vital to the crops so they are able to make their final growth spurt before harvest time. You could liken it unto the End Times. The time(s) before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have a sincere belief that we are in the End Times, those Dog Days before the Harvest. It is a time of growth both personal, spiritual and in numbers of people added to the Church.
I am not a fan of Revelation, not because it is a gloomy book or not worthy of my attention but because it has been used to frighten and enslave espoused Christians. It has been so wrongly interpreted that it's true meaning has been clouded.
People have used it as a springboard for apocalyptic rhetoric to prove an exact time of the Coming of Christ. Also there are so many theories about the End Times etc. that mass confusion reigns. It is this confusion that Jesus allows that keeps us from knowing His exact plans. Clouded if you will, as a thief in the night. Jesus does not want us to know. We are to be perpetually prepared for His coming .
KJV 2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.I have a sincere belief that we are in the End Times, those Dog Days before the Harvest. It is a time of growth both personal, spiritual and in numbers of people added to the Church.
I am not a fan of Revelation, not because it is a gloomy book or not worthy of my attention but because it has been used to frighten and enslave espoused Christians. It has been so wrongly interpreted that it's true meaning has been clouded.
People have used it as a springboard for apocalyptic rhetoric to prove an exact time of the Coming of Christ. Also there are so many theories about the End Times etc. that mass confusion reigns. It is this confusion that Jesus allows that keeps us from knowing His exact plans. Clouded if you will, as a thief in the night. Jesus does not want us to know. We are to be perpetually prepared for His coming .
Now that verse is a bit gloomy. It has been used to scare people into "becoming" Christian. This is one of those scriptures that has been used to instill "fear" in people to keep them in line, so to speak.
I have used this tactic when I Pastored. In my defense I would like to say that is all I knew at the time. This is what I was taught and thought I truly believed. For this I am truly sorry and retentive. (Repentance evolves not only a mental assent but an action portion of turning from what you have repented of and doing it no more.)
Keeping people in fear is not the way to serve Jesus.
Unfortunetely there is always an element of fear in Christianity: the fear of being "lost". No matter how much love one preaches, this message of being "lost" as a Christian always come through.
So many people serve Jesus out of fear. In actuality they are serving Him with there mind, not with their heart and whole being. They are not serving Jesus freely out of their own free will.
I have used this tactic when I Pastored. In my defense I would like to say that is all I knew at the time. This is what I was taught and thought I truly believed. For this I am truly sorry and retentive. (Repentance evolves not only a mental assent but an action portion of turning from what you have repented of and doing it no more.)
Keeping people in fear is not the way to serve Jesus.
Unfortunetely there is always an element of fear in Christianity: the fear of being "lost". No matter how much love one preaches, this message of being "lost" as a Christian always come through.
So many people serve Jesus out of fear. In actuality they are serving Him with there mind, not with their heart and whole being. They are not serving Jesus freely out of their own free will.
This is what Strong's Concordance says about "whosoever will", "life" and "freely"
2309 whosever will: 1) to will, have in mind, intend 1a) to be resolved or determined, to purpose 1b) to desire, to wish 1c) to love 1c1) to like to do a thing, be fond of doing 1d) to take delight in, have pleasure
2222 life: 1) life 1a) the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate 1b) every living soul 2) life 2a) of the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God, and through him both to the hypostatic "logos" and to Christ in whom the "logos" put on human nature 2b) life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever.
1432 freely: 1) freely, undeservedly
It is serving Jesus with our "free will" that Jesus wants. That is one of the reasons that He created us; to have a people who will freely serve Him.
This reminds me of the "love slave" of the Old Testament:
KJV Exodus 21:1 Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
4 If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.
5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
6 Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through
with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.
The servants choice to serve his master was given freely. He weighed out the pros and cons and then made his decision. He was in no way coerced because he was already free to go and do what he desired. It was the servants free choice to serve his master perpetually.
The key here is "free choice". This is a choice one makes because of love not due to fear. So it should be with us as Christians.
KJV 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth (to do something for fear of harm i.e. being lost) is not made perfect in love.
If we take a look at Rev. 22:17 again we will find that Jesus is offering us a life devoted to Him undeservedly. It is up to us to resolve, determine or purpose to serve Him.
Furthermore we are to take pleasure in or have pleasure in serving Jesus. To do so through fear is not pleasure but a duty and duty is a coercive thing. Something that we do because of social pressure not because it thrills our soul, lifts our spirit or allows us to serve Jesus in a most intimate way.
What comes to mind is: Live free or die.
Personally I want to live free. Free to serve Jesus in an intimate, satisfying way.
Spiritual freedom is a gift from Jesus. When He breathed into the nostrils of the first man He gave him the gift of freedom. It is all about free, personal choice.
KJV Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
May you be blessed with the strength to serve Jesus freely and without reservation.
