What if I fail?

By Pastor Jeffrey Smith 

 

2 Corinthians 4:18

 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

 

Jesus was a subversive leader. Not subversive in the sense that He was trying to take advantage of people or had any malicious intentions, but subversive in that He was trying to overthrow the prevalent mentality of the day. The mentality was dictated by religion and religious leaders. The leaders, teachers, and rabbis of that time believed that salvation came by means of obeying rules; if you were able to live according to a stringent and dogmatic ruleset, you were deemed righteous. 

 

Jesus came to flip this belief on its head. He knew favor with God was found in faith, and none of what these leaders prescribed had any basis in faith. What’s amazing about Jesus is that He didn’t do it through rebellion, He did it through obedience to His Father. He knew that no man could conjure up righteousness on their own and that rebellion would only deepen the gap between man and God. 

 

What this world needs now is indeed an overthrowing, a flipping on its head, but not through counterculture or rule-breaking, but incomprehensible obedience. Obedience, in and of itself, is a revolution. Jesus calls us to live lives of big risks, believing, and obeying. We are not called to live blended in with everyone else. We are called to do extraordinary, bold, difficult things that make us uncomfortable. All of these things, in essence, are living by faith and not by sight. Living by faith is difficult, yet it’s exactly what the Bible tells us to do. A sight-based life plays it safe and doesn’t venture far beyond what is visible and certain. A faith-based life has its ear tuned to the voice of God, following where He calls it, no matter how troubling the circumstance. Make a decision today that no longer will you be ruled by sight, but you will cling to faith in the Lord.

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