Beware of Shortcuts!

 

Shortcuts usually seem like a good idea, but unfortunately they don’t always work out. In our Christian lives, they can be even more dangerous.

The year was 1846, and the place was Springfield, Illinois. James Reed, a businessman who hoped to prosper in California and perhaps find a better climate for his wife’s health, decided to head west. His family was one of many that joined George Donner’s wagon train going west.

Some accounts say that 90 people, from infants to the elderly, left Springfield; others say that about 32 people left Springfield, but that many others joined them as they traveled westward. By the time they reached St. Louis, Missouri, their caravan is said to have stretched for two miles while underway.

Whatever the numbers, historians describe the episode they were about to experience as one of the most dreadful tragedies in the record of westward migration in the United States.

The shortcut

The trip went relatively well until they reached Fort Bridger, Wyoming. There the Donner party split off from the main body of the wagon train to take a shortcut that was advised in a guidebook written by Lansford W. Hastings.

Reportedly, Mr. Reed asked an old friend who had just come from California what he thought of the shortcut. His response was adamant: “Don’t do it. … You can’t take wagons that way. Go the old route. Be safe. You’ll perish.”

Mr. Reed replied, “There’s a newer route, and we might as well take it.”

The shortcut was supposed to be easier and cut 300 miles off the trip! However, as is often the case, the shortcut didn’t live up to its promises. It involved traversing narrow, rugged canyons in the Wasatch Mountains, enduring several days without water in the Great Salt Lake Desert and taking a detour south around the Ruby Mountains—all before they rejoined the main trail where they still faced the daunting challenge of crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Pioneers were on a tight schedule to get over the mountains before winter. Unfortunately, the shortcut had put them at this final step in their trek later than expected. Just a few days into the crossing, the party was trapped by an early heavy snowfall.

By the time they could get help, some had resorted to extreme and unimaginable measures in order to survive. Depending on which account you read, only about 45 survived out of the over 80 who took the shortcut.

Sometimes it’s better not to take the shortcut!

On your spiritual journey, don’t take shortcuts

If we are following Christ, we are following a path that will eventually lead us to the Kingdom of God. It may not always be an easy path to follow. As Jesus said, “Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life” (Matthew 7:14).

“Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life” (Matthew 7:14). As we follow this path, we must be mindful of people along the way who promote shortcuts.As we follow this path, we must be mindful of people along the way who promote shortcuts. For instance, some would have us believe that since Christ died for our sins, there is no need for us to be concerned about keeping His laws. But what does God’s Word tell us?

Paul wrote, “Shall we sin [break God’s laws] because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:15).

Paul continued in verse 18, “Having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

What does it mean to be set free from sin? “The wages of sin is death” (verse 23). But Christ died in our place to remove that penalty of eternal death from those who have repented. Now that we are set free from eternal death, we are to live a life of righteousness. That’s why Paul said in Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.”

Once we come to the knowledge of the truth and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we must repent of our sins and begin living God’s way of life.

John, the beloved disciple of Christ, wrote, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:5-6).

God is symbolized by light; that is, He is holy and pure. He has no sin, which is symbolized by darkness. Therefore, John is telling us that if we live in sin—darkness—we do not have fellowship with Christ.

Unfortunately, there are times when we do sin (verse 8). And because we are human, we are weak and require God’s help to overcome the evil pulls of this world. Nevertheless, we cannot use this as an excuse to not strive to overcome sin. Therefore, it is important to recognize our sins and ask God for forgiveness (verse 9).

Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). However, some use this verse to try to say that the law is completed or ended. But the word fulfill literally means cram or fill up or make full. Jesus was simply stating that He made the law more complete by adding the spiritual aspect of the law. (Read more about this in our article “Jesus and the Law.”)

What God expects of us

A prophecy in Isaiah 42:21 about the coming Messiah states, “The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will exalt [magnify, King James Version] the law and make it honorable.”

Jesus fulfilled this prophecy. He did not do away with the law but, in fact, magnified it and made it even more honorable! When you magnify something, you make it larger so that you can see the details better. Originally, people only recognized the letter of the law, but now Christ revealed the spiritual application of the law.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave examples of this magnification, starting with the Sixth Commandment. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (Matthew 5:21-22).

Then in Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus explained the spiritual application of the Seventh Commandment. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

There are other examples that Jesus cited, but just from these it is easy to see that Jesus did not do away with God’s law. He magnified it, bringing it more into perspective so that we can more fully understand it and appreciate it. In other words, He made the law even more honorable.

Examining more shortcuts

Another scripture some people use to try to shortcut the need to obey God’s law is found in Romans 3:21: “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.” They quote this verse to try to show that we do not need to keep the law, and that the law was done away.

If this were true—if the law no longer existed—how could the righteousness of God be witnessed by it? If the law were done away or no longer in force, why would Paul even mention this fact? It wouldn’t make sense.

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’)” (Galatians 3:13). Notice that this verse says that we are redeemed from the curse of the law, not the law itself. The curse of the law is the penalty of death that we receive from breaking the law. But we are redeemed from the death penalty because Christ died in our place.

James also wrote, “Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). For instance, those who believe they shouldn’t steal or murder are still guilty of breaking the law if they do not also observe the true Sabbath day, which is on the seventh day of the week, Saturday (Exodus 20:8-11). (For a biblical study of this subject, read our free booklet The Sabbath: A Neglected Gift From God.)

According to the Bible, if we break the Sabbath, it’s as though we have broken all the law!

Beware of deceivers

The Bible tells us that many are deceived (Revelation 12:9). We should not be surprised, because Jesus warned, “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:5).

Paul also wrote of these deceivers. “But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:13-17).

To escape from deception and ensure that we are not deceived, we need to draw close to the trunk of the tree. That is, we need to draw close to the Word of God and His laws. In Acts 24:14 Paul said, “But this I confess to you, that according to the way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.”

We also need to believe all things written in the Law and the Prophets.

The end of the journey

If we are living a Christian life, we are on a path that will eventually lead us to the Kingdom of God. But at any given time we could reach our Fort Bridger. There we must decide whether to try a shortcut that is highly promoted in our modern world, or to stay on the path that Jesus and the apostles revealed.

Don’t fall for a deadly spiritual shortcut.

History records that those who stayed with the main body of the wagon train—those who did not take the Donner party’s shortcut—arrived safely in California. And if we stay on the true narrow path, we, too, will arrive at our desired destination—God’s Kingdom.

For a concise, helpful biblical study of the Christian path, download our booklet Change Your Life!

How to Have a Sound Mind

 

What is going on? Why all the violence, hatred and evil in the world? What is causing the unsound thinking, and what is the key to sound mindedness?

Viewing and reading about all the terrible things occurring today, we might question whether anyone has a sound mind. Human thinking can be so biased and distorted with human emotion and false premises.

Is it even possible to have sound mindedness in this day and age?

The Bible tells us yes, it is possible. But in order to have right thinking, we need to acknowledge a few things first.

The unsound mind

The apostle Paul plainly gives a cause for wrong thinking in Romans 1:21: “Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Paul describes the end result of deliberately rejecting the existence of God in verse 28: “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind.” A debased mind is not a sound mind. Looking at verses 28-32, we can see all kinds of problems that are now extant in the world around us—all because of people’s rejection of God and His words.

In fact, King David writes, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have done abominable works” (Psalm 14:1).

History shows us that humans have almost always given preference to their own knowledge over the revealed knowledge that comes from God. The result of human thinking, apart from God, has caused untold chaos.

Human thinking

Many people today think their reasoning is just fine, and they don’t really consider God. The prophet Isaiah warns against this attitude: “Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of him who made it, ‘He did not make me’? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” (Isaiah 29:16).

For instance, Sigmund Freud described God as an illusion, created by humanity to fulfill our infantile need for a strong father figure. According to this thinking, religion may have been useful for controlling the violent tendencies of a developing civilization, but is unnecessary now when we can turn to reason and science.

How’s that working out for this world? Looking at the continuing conflicts between people and nations and the deepening confusion about how to achieve lasting happiness and avoid devastating heartache, it seems humanity has not truly found sound reasoning.

God tells us the real solution in Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

The prophet Isaiah also records a related warning from God: “‘Woe to the rebellious children,’ says the LORD, ‘Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin” (Isaiah 30:1).

Human reasoning, apart from God, cannot develop a mind that is sound.

How to have a sound mind

The Bible tells us the real source: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

What is Paul saying here? God’s Spirit, which is His power and mind essence, actually allows us to develop a mind that is temperate, disciplined and self-controlled. It is peaceful and full of wisdom.

The Amplified Bible translates this verse as: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].”

The apostle James delineates the differences between the wisdom that comes from God and the thinking that is in the world around us. “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy” (James 3:16-17).

On the spiritual level, right thinking can only come through exercising God’s Holy Spirit.People today often seek to achieve sound mindedness through the behavioral sciences; they strive to attain peace, wisdom and good judgment simply by personal commitments to do so. Of course, people can learn to reason clearly and develop common sense on the physical level. But on the spiritual level, right thinking can only come through exercising God’s Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12-14).

How do we receive God’s Spirit?

In Acts 2:1-4 the disciples were gathered together keeping the Day of Pentecost and were filled with the Holy Spirit. People from all over could not understand how they were hearing these Galileans in their own languages (verses 7-12). The people were amazed, and so Peter explained that what they were witnessing was foretold by the prophet Joel, who said that the Holy Spirit would be poured out (verses 16-18).

So how do we receive that Spirit? Peter says in verse 38, “Repent”—this means to turn away from sin, from breaking God’s laws—“and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Peter continues by saying that the promise to receive the Holy Spirit is “to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (verse 39).

So, to receive the gift of the Spirit that allows us to develop a sound mind—thinking from God’s viewpoint—one has to repent of sin and be baptized. This is truly a major behavioral change on our part. We have to realize that God is real and that we need Him—His power, love and His sound mind—within us. (For more details about receiving God’s Spirit, read our booklet Change Your Life!)

A sound mind carries responsibilities

Once God imbues us with the gift of the Holy Spirit, we must not quench it (1 Thessalonians 5:19). In other words, we have to determine that our way of thinking must now be godly and not human-driven. In fact, we are told to have the very mind of Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul also gives examples of that mind-set:

• “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-5).
• “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:25-26).

Can we even imagine a world like that? Where people would always show concern for others? Where people would give deference to others, and where selfishness and conceit would be removed from one’s thinking? Where people would be calm and peaceful and willing to yield?

That is the kind of world God desires for all peoples—and it will come once Jesus Christ returns!

Endure to the end

But until the Kingdom of God begins to rule on earth, the pressure is on. The world’s thinking is so pervasive that we must be careful not to fall back into having an unsound mind. For example, consider the many angry opinions and vicious comments that are posted to articles and news releases on the web. Everyone thinks his or her opinion is right. And even with the Holy Spirit, we must be careful not to get caught up in conceit or provocation, as “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

The apostle Peter also reminds us in 2 Peter 3:17-18: “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Godly thinking helps us to never forget that God gives us His laws for our own good (Deuteronomy 6:24). And, as we internalize His way of thinking now, we will develop a sound mindedness that truly is a blessing—one that is made possible through having His Holy Spirit.

So who will have a sound mind? Those who repent, are baptized and receive God’s Spirit.

And the most important question: Will you do what it takes to develop that sound mind God promises? If so, be assured that is the direction God wants you to go!

For a deeper study of your next steps, download Change Your Life!

The World Needs Visionaries

 

Being a Christian isn’t just about being a visionary. It’s about being the right kind of visionary. The pages of God’s Word show us how.

The world is full of visionaries. Browse through Kickstarter sometime, and you’ll see pages and pages of visionaries looking to change the world (or some corner of it) with new technology, new innovations, new games, new music, new films—new everything.

Visionaries are the people who look at the world as it is and see what it could be instead. They’re the people who invented broadcast television and wireless Internet, who launched astronauts safely into the frigid vacuum of space, and who dreamed up the combustion engine. They’re the people who bridge the gap between the present and the possible.

Unfortunately, that’s not always a good thing.

The way that seems right (why visionary leadership can go wrong)

Visionaries are really just forces for change. Sometimes that change is great and sometimes it’s terrible, but most of the time it’s somewhere in between.

Take Charles Babbage, for example—when he dreamed up his steam-powered, programmable “computer,” I doubt even he could have imagined a future where computers fit in people’s pockets, connecting the world in a boundless network capable of incredible good and terrible evil.

The Bible warns, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). If that seems like hyperbole, then consider:

• Visionaries turned slavery into a commercial enterprise.
• Visionaries designed the first atomic bomb.
• Visionaries engineered the Holocaust.

And what’s even scarier—what’s absolutely terrifying—is that in each of those scenarios, there were visionaries who honestly believed what they were doing was okay.

There were people who thought it was okay to buy and trade their fellow human beings like cattle.

There were people who thought they were doing the right thing by building a weapon that could level entire towns. There were people who thought they were justified in herding the Jews and other minorities into concentration camps and gas chambers.

“There is a way that seems right to a man.”

More than just visionaries

We don’t just need more visionaries. We already have plenty, each jockeying to lead the world down any one of a thousand mutually exclusive paths. No, we need the right kind of visionaries—and those are harder to come by.

Seeing the world as it could be is easy. Seeing the road to get there is harder. But the real trick—and the part that really matters—is seeing the right world and identifying the right road.

That’s tricky. But it’s possible, and we can do it—but not without first looking to the ultimate Visionary.

God sees the end from the beginning

The Bible is filled with prophecies that don’t just describe the world as it could be—they describe the world as it will be.

“For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. … Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it” (Isaiah 46:9-11).

And He does do it. Before the nation of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians, God sent prophet after prophet to warn His stubborn people of what was coming and how to avoid it (Jeremiah 44:4-6).

Before Alexander the Great was ever born, God sent Daniel a vision of a conqueror who would shatter the Medo-Persian Empire and then die suddenly, leaving his own empire to four inferior leaders (Daniel 8:1-22).

Before King Cyrus was born, God had Isaiah record a prophecy of a ruler named Cyrus who would release the Jewish people from captivity to rebuild God’s temple in Jerusalem (Isaiah 44:28–45:7).

All these things came to pass, exactly as God promised they would. But most of the Bible’s prophecies are still unfulfilled—describing a time in the future.

There are prophecies about a time when “the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1), when “the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped” (verse 5) and “sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (verse 10).

It’s a picture of the world as it could be. As it should be.

As it will be.

A call for visionaries to help change the world

The road to that world isn’t an easy one, but it is a clear one. A lot has to change, and things have to get worse before they can ever get better.

But there’s a reason for all of it—even the moments that seem arbitrary or hopeless. We might not understand the reason for every event along the way, but we know those moments are allowed by the God who reminds us, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

That doesn’t mean we have to stay in the dark about God’s plan. On the contrary, God maps it all out for us in the pages of the Bible and invites us to understand—because He wants us to see and seek His marvelous vision of the future.

Seeing the unseen

The book of Hebrews contains what’s popularly known as the Faith Chapter—a sort of spiritual hall of fame filled with the stories of those who made following God their top priority. These men and women have something else in common too: By and large, they were visionaries—and not just any visionaries, but the right kind of visionaries.

These visionary Bible characters saw not just the world as it could be, but the world as it will be.

Moses, for instance, left his position as royalty to wander in the desert with slaves, “for he looked to the reward” and “endured as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:26-27).

Noah, “being divinely warned of things not yet seen,” built the ark that saved his family from the Flood (verse 7).

Abraham left his home without knowing where God was leading him, “for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (verse 10).

These men and women each peered into the world that will be: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. … Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (verses 13, 16).

Hebrews 11 is a chapter full of visionaries, each of whom saw the future and started walking toward it.

Your turn to be the right kind of visionary

Is the future promised by God burning in the forefront of your mind?What about you? Where are you going? What do you see?

Is the future promised by God burning in the forefront of your mind? Can you visualize the city “whose builder and maker is God”? Do you know the road there?

Would you like to?

Finding the way to that future

The answers aren’t secrets—they’re all on display in the pages of your Bible. It’s just that few people take the time to delve into those pages and ask the right questions. Jesus warned, “Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14).

But it’s there. With God’s help, you can find it. And if you want to find that path, the Bible tells you exactly where to start.

Peter writes about the “exceedingly great and precious promises” we’ve been given, adding, “for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. … For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:4-7, 11).

It has to start with faith—“for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). But it doesn’t stop there. To faith, we must add virtue—a desire to do what’s right because it’s right.

Then comes knowledge—the more we exercise our faith through virtue, the more we come to understand God’s Word on a deeper and more personal level.

Next comes self-control, then perseverance, then godliness, and on it goes, with each step taking us farther and farther down the road to the future God has prepared for the whole world, opening our eyes ever wider as we become the right kind of visionaries—the kind the world needs.

And that’s the beauty of it all. The road doesn’t stop with us just seeing the future. It ends with us being a part of that future. The world is becoming an increasingly dark and broken place, but the end of the story reveals that God’s visionaries will reign with Him for eternity, bringing light and healing to a world that needs it so very much (Revelation 20:4; 22:2-5).

Preparing for that future

But that’s all later. That’s the future we need to keep our eyes on—the future the heroes of faith looked toward in the middle of their darkest moments and most difficult trials. And until that day comes, we have a road to travel—beginning with faith and ending with an entrance into the Kingdom of God.

“And so,” Peter writes, “we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).

The future is certain. The road there is narrow, but the destination is clear. God is calling visionaries to see that future, to travel that road, and to one day help heal the world.

What do you see?

Godly Fear

 

God is creating a family, but He is particular as to whom He will accept as members. What does it mean to have the fear of the Lord but to not be fearful?

In the book of Revelation there is a list of the types of people that God will not accept as part of His family. That list includes “the cowardly [fearful in the King James Version], unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars” (Revelation 21:8).

It may seem perplexing or perhaps unusual to find that those who are fearful, or cowardly, are listed along with murderers! Yet we know that God is righteous, therefore, there has to be a logical explanation for this.

Human fears

One of the natural tendencies that humans have is fear, although some people experience it more than others. In fact, some people may have a fear of one thing while others may have a fear of something totally different.

Fear can be good or bad. For instance, if we have a fear of heights and we have to climb a ladder or get on the roof of a building, it can cause us to be more cautious than we might otherwise be. The same is true for those who have a fear of water; it causes them to be more alert to the danger of drowning. These types of common fears will not keep anyone from becoming a member of God’s family.

If having any kind of fear could keep us from becoming a member of the family of God, then we might all need to have the courage to bungee jump off a high bridge or walk on the wing of an airplane while it’s in flight! But conquering those natural (and beneficial) fears is not what God cares about.

The fear of God

In fact, the Bible tells us there is a fear we need to have. It is described in Proverbs 9:10: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” This kind of wisdom is godly wisdom, not the kind of wisdom this world has to offer.

Another verse that describes this fear is found in Proverbs 8:13: “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil.” God hates evil and will not allow those who practice it to be in His family. So, again, to fear the Lord is a good type of fear. It is a fear that will bring us closer to God.

A third example is found in Proverbs 14:27: “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.” The Bible tells us, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life” (Romans 6:23). So having the fear of the Lord will help keep us from the snares of sin that lead to death.

But there is a type of fear God tells us to avoid.

A fear not to have

A motivational speaker once told a story about seeing a bird that appeared to be frozen. Upon further examination, he discovered that the bird was looking at a snake that was watching it. After a few minutes the speaker picked up a small stone and tossed it toward the snake in order to distract it, and immediately the bird flew away. The point that he was making was that the bird could have flown away at any time. But because of its extreme fear of the snake, the bird became paralyzed.

This is the kind of fear that can keep us from following Christ, and thus keep us from becoming a member of God’s family and part of His coming Kingdom. This is a fear so strong that it immobilizes us from following Christ and keeping God’s laws.

When God opens our minds and gives us understanding of His ways and laws, we may find that we have practiced many religious customs that are not taught in the Bible, and that the Bible teaches things we have not understood. It takes courage to act on this knowledge. For example, to suddenly start observing the Sabbath and holy days could cost a person his or her job or alienate the person from his or her family. These kinds of situations can cause extreme stress and the kind of fear that can cause us to back away from obeying God.

In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 the servant who was “afraid” to invest his resources was condemned for being “wicked and lazy” (verses 25-26). A lesson from the parable is that fear can be an excuse for not making the effort to obey or overcome (Proverbs 26:13). This is the kind of fear that is condemned in Revelation 21:8. It can be a paralyzing fear, but we must remember that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

Trusting in God

God promises that those who overcome sin will inherit all things (Revelation 21:7). But to overcome requires that we not allow ourselves to become restrained by fear. God promises us that He will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Therefore, we must trust God and have the courage to step out on faith.

Our ability to step out on faith and overcome sin depends upon how strong our love for God is. Jesus told us that to love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind is the first and great commandment (Matthew 22:37-38). This requires that we put God first in our life.

To emphasize that God is to be first, Jesus stated, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). It should be noted, however, that the word hate is better understood as, “to love less by comparison.” In other words, we are to love Christ even more than we love our own family!

Jesus continued, “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (verse 27). Therefore, we must be willing to sacrifice our job and even relationships, if necessary, to follow Christ and to be obedient to the laws of God. God is to be first in our life.

God’s character is love

God is love. The Scriptures tell us that we love God because He first loved us. By keeping His Word, the love of God is perfected in us (1 John 2:5). As Jesus Himself stated, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). It is important that we establish the Word of God as foundational in our lives.

By drawing closer to God and perfecting His love in us, we can remove the fears that may paralyze us from following Christ.By drawing closer to God and perfecting His love in us, we can remove the fears that may paralyze us from following Christ. The apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.” When our love for God is strong enough, we can overcome any fear that would immobilize us from following Christ. Learn more about perfecting godly love in the articles “God Is Love” and “Love of God.”

The apostle Peter’s example

The night before Jesus’ crucifixion, He was taken captive and interrogated by the Sanhedrin. After questioning Jesus, the Sanhedrin accused Him of committing blasphemy and judged Him to be worthy of death. Then some began to spit on Him, blindfolded and beat Him, while asking Him to prophesy who it was that hit Him.

Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, having witnessed what happened to Jesus. He was approached by a servant who said, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee” (Matthew 26:69). But Peter denied it! Three times Peter was accused of knowing and being with Jesus, and all three times Peter denied it. In fact, the third time “he began to curse and swear, saying, ‘I do not know the Man’” (verse 74).

Obviously, Peter was overcome with extreme anxiety to the extent that he feared for his life. But he learned his lesson and wept bitterly (verse 75).

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, He appeared several times to His disciples. On one of those occasions, Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Three times Jesus asked Peter this question (John 21:15-17).

Peter had earlier denied Christ three times. And so Jesus asked Peter this pointed question, “Do you love Me?” three times. And after each time, Peter responded by saying “Yes Lord; You know that I love You.” But Peter got the point; Jesus wanted Peter to truly love Him in a much deeper way. Peter needed to learn to love in the selfless, godly way Jesus demonstrated.

It is obvious that over the years and through his trials Peter did strengthen his love for Christ, and he became one of the great apostles who preached the gospel without fear (see 1 Peter 3:13-18).

As the writings of the apostle Paul also attest, preaching the gospel in the first century was not for those who were fearful or cowardly (2 Timothy 4:16-18).

Our responsibilities

As individuals, we probably have many goals in life, but our main goal should be to become a member of the family of God. To achieve this goal, we must overcome the obstacles that we encounter in this life. And to do this requires that we overcome any fears that would hinder us from obeying God or putting Him first in our life.

Therefore, we need to love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind. As the apostle John reminded us, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).

For further instruction about having the proper fear of God, read “Fear of the Lord: What Does It Mean?”