After hearing every sermon I would ask myself, “That was a good sermon but what is my responsibility?”
Like the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16, who asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Or the Samaritan woman who asked Jesus for living water in John 4, we are all looking for practical solutions.
If climbing Mount Everest guaranteed salvation, many of us would have tried. Lets face it, at the end of the day we all look for solutions on how our lives can be changed. No wonder books like ‘7 tips to successful marriage’ or ‘5 tips to being successful’ are best-sellers. And in the quest for practical solutions, we become dependant on our own or someone else’s experiences. It is in our human nature to make efforts.
John 6:28 – Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
What must I do?
John 6:29 – Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
Believe in Him.
Is it that simple?
Yes.
What do I believe?
Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Believe that there is nothing you can do and Christ has done it all. How can you do something when you have been crucified with Christ? You are no longer living but Christ who is living in you. Only when you believe Christ died as you, then can you see yourself living as him.
We can only believe in Christ and on what He has done at the cross because only the cross defines who Christ is.
We will always struggle. Our struggles are never going to go away. And they are real. But we can’t lose hope because cross is the solution to all our problems. It is not just a one time event. The message of the cross is progressive in nature unleashing God’s power in our lives (1 Corinthians 1:18). If you are struggling like me and just want to know what you must do. The answer is simple, ‘believe in Him for what He has done’. He has completed His work.
Do you believe in His finished work?