A
friend once remarked, ‘thank God for convenience shops!’ These convenience
shops are quite helpful especially when one runs out of little but necessary
things like top-ups, milk, salt, sugar and the likes. However, when one is set
to do a proper satisfying shopping, one seeks out the bigger groceries or
better yet, the farmers market for fresh produce. No matter how convenient
convenience shops are, they were not meant to replace the proper
groceries/markets when it comes to eating healthy. Similarly, our walk with the
Lord Jesus Christ is not meant to be a ‘convenience’ one but a necessity for
our day to day lives. The Almighty God is not a “convenience God”: A God that
is served based on the time and resource availability of the worshipper. I
remember someone once remarked if one is to succeed in this world, such must be
wise to live a well arranged life. What he meant was, the life in the office
must be different from the one lived at home, at Church and social gatherings.
His argument was that the society we live in does not give room for
‘extremism’, thus one must learn to adapt in whatever situation they find
themselves. He argued further that our relationship with God should be one that
is convenient for us because the desire of God for us in this world is for us
to enjoy it! This line of thought is the basis why certain services are not literary different from ‘fast food services’ or shows! Thus, messages that
will not offend, that will massage the egos of the congregants are preached in
order to keep them coming. This article is not written particularly for such
congregation, but for the souls in such congregations that have a tugging in
their hearts that there should be more.
Friend, indeed there is more! God is
not a God of convenience, to be served at our convenience. The life of a true
child of God is a life of sacrifice: “Therefore,
brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship”
(Romans 12:1). The sacrifice that God accepts is one that costs the worshipper
something: “The king answered Araunah,
‘No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the
Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing…” (2 Samuel 24:24). Cain
offered a ‘convenient’ sacrifice to God; both himself and his sacrifice were
rejected! Maybe you live, work, school and interact in areas that are ungodly;
for that reason, you have hidden your identity as a child of God so as not to
offend the people around you. Friend, if that is your situation, Heaven is
asking how you have fared with your deception.
Despite the fear around them, constant harassment and threats from
their neighbors, the children of Israel stood their ground in their worship of
the One True God: “They set up the altar
on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it
to the Lord even though they feared the surrounding peoples” (Ezra 3:3). As
the people continued to obey the Lord, He raised help for them that effectively
shut up their enemies. Thus giving them the freedom to build and sacrifice to
God Almighty. Friend, the enemy will indeed try to stop you; intimidate you to
the extent that you reduce your service to God to an action that can only be
done when it is convenient. He may deploy bosses, policies, family, friends, work
load, studies and many more to stop you from serving God acceptably. But if
your heart is truly committed to Jesus Christ, He will raise help for you that
will effectively shut their mouths. You may be so frustrated that you may ask
why God is allowing them to do this to you in the first place. Maybe the Lord
is using them to hone your faith and position you for great exploits for Him.
No matter what you are going through, don’t turn your service to God into one
that can only be offered when it is convenient. Be encouraged, God is the same
yesterday, today and forever; He will crown your sacrifices and honor you in this
life and in the one to come. God bless you.
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