Either or…

Sometimes we pray to hear God’s voice, or for Him to answer a prayer the way we would like it to be answered… but there’s nothing. Those are the times when we even shake our fists at heaven and ask God what the deal is. But then there are times, like I experienced just yesterday, when God tells us something that we would rather not have wanted to hear. God told me, “It’s either Me, or it’s not Me! You can’t have both.”

We had just spent Christmas with family who aren’t saved. You see, for them, Christmas is a time to get together with family and friends, to eat and drink, and not really to mention the real reason for the season. And I became Peter… I have been in ministry for many years. I have pastored churches, preached in many places, ministered to other pastors, and planted churches. Yet, all I did was to sit there and accept it because of the fear that I might offend someone in their own house.

What a wake-up call God has given me. I am either a Christian, or I am not. I either follow Christ or I don’t. It’s either Him or the world. We have become watered down by the world and its ways. We choose to accept anything that comes along because we are too afraid to offend others. We choose to be quiet and not stand up for our faith. But as for me and my house, we say, “No more!” There will be no more compromise. It is God, or it is nothing.

Jesus was never ashamed to come to this world and to be born in a stable. Yet we want the best of the best. Jesus never compromised when it came to praying continuously, yet we are too ashamed to say grace in a public place. Jesus never thought twice about dying on the cross for you and me, yet we sit around “the fires of this world” and deny that we know Him because we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Jesus’ heart was breaking on that cross. Because, the very people who were hammering in the nails, were the ones whom He loved.

I was like those men, hammering in the nails when I was not willing to speak up while coming together to celebrate the birth of the Saviour of the world. Jesus wasn’t ashamed to die for me. He never thought twice to give up His throne to come and be born in a filthy stable. God, Abba Father, was willing to give up His Son for me. And that is why, today, right here and right now, I will stand firm like David. I will not be shaken by the slander of the giant that I face. Because I know that my God is with me, and I owe everything to Him.

Have a blessed day. Have a bold day. Remember, we either live for Christ or we don’t. There’s no easy middle road.