I’m a big Denver Broncos fan. I never attend a game in person or watch a game on TV. I don’t know anything about the Broncos, what their record is, or who’s on the team. I don’t hang out with other Broncos fans. I don’t think or do or say anything that has to do with the Broncos. I don’t own a Broncos shirt or bumper sticker, but boy, I’m a big Broncos fan. And you would say, “Duh, what’s wrong with you, you gumball? You’re no Broncos fan.”
The same can be said about being a Christian. I hear people say (and see on their Facebook pages), “I’m a Christian.” Yet they never go to church. They don’t know anything about Jesus or the Bible. They don’t hang out with other Christians, they don’t think or do or say anything that looks remotely like God or Jesus or the Bible. In fact, they often act in ways against God, yet they say they’re a Christian. Now I don’t know what’s going on in their hearts and I want to be slow to judge, but I have to ask, “All things considered, looking at the evidence, are you really a Christian? Why do you call yourself that?”
Jesus warned His followers in Matthew 7 to recognize true or false prophets “by their fruits.” “Are grapes gathered from thorn-bushes or figs from thistles? Every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” Are you producing fruit? Good or bad? Are you recognized by your fruit? Does the fruit of your life line up with the words you speak?
He also warned them, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Is God your Father? Are you doing His will? What will Jesus say to you on that day?
As 2022 begins, and we know of more and more people dying unexpectedly, please hear the words of Christ and do them. Align your walk with your talk. Make sure of your salvation, if you are born again. If you say you’re a Christian, prove it to yourself and others. If you don’t know Christ, be born again and receive Him as Lord and Savior now, and you will be a wise man who builds his house on a rock.