What If It Is Not As We Imagined?

      “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” (2Corinthians 5:9-11a). What if at the end of time we find out that the way we have been doing things that we thought was right is actually deadly wrong? What if we find out that our display of intellect and prowess were just fleshy displays as they do not glorify God as we imagined since the Bible says: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1Corinthians 10:31)?

      Someone said lately that Time is a scarce commodity and must be used well. This statement is true. But when time management has been brought into our worship services, such that most services have become motors run on time schedules; for instance, times are allocated for each segment of the service and must be followed religiously. What if we find out that we are deadly wrong to do this because it stifles the move of the Holy Spirit in the “worship service”? The Bible tells us “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). We may interpret the verse by the Spirit to mean, those that are trained by God to be like Him. If we are supposed to be led by the Spirit of God, is it the Spirit of God that leads in those “services” or we are the ones leading Him, since we are the ones dictating the amount of time to be spent? No wonder in such congregations, they can barely do vigils that would last more than 2am, if it will get to that time at all! They breeze into the Presence of God and breeze out as fast as they had entered. Their “services” are no better than fast food combos! I remember some time ago when sharing with a Pastor that advocates this time management in his congregation: I asked him how he would feel if the Holy Spirit interrupted his service; instead of delivering his well prepared sermon or orderly teachings, God wants them to sing praises to Him all through the day until He releases them to go home. He was aghast, as he could not imagine God doing that since people were busy, some had jobs they have to go to, places and people to visit and most essentially, they needed to rest at home since it was a Sunday! The bottom line is that the Spirit of God is not welcome to interrupt the “worship service”. The question that came to my mind was, what then is the difference between him and Michal, Saul’s daughter: “(She), looked through a window and saw king David leaping and whirling before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart” (1Samuel 6:16b). Michal felt things should be done orderly and with decorum! The repercussion of that thought was costly!

      What if at the end, the great and magnificent buildings being built as Church Auditoriums to house the teeming congregation, whilst most in the congregation can barely afford to send their wards to the schools owned by same Churches because of their exorbitant fees, is wrong? A Pastor once said to me concerning this, that things that are free are not well appreciated! The thought that came to my mind was, is this call to walk with God to please men or to please God? If it was to please men then we are the most miserable of all men; but if we claim it is to please God, we, then must understand this: “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do i seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). Our approval is not from any man but from God! It is then foolhardy and dangerous to leave weightier matters of saving souls to mundane physical things that will lead no one anywhere. You may argue that there is no correlation between embarking on these gigantic projects and education. I beg to differ. The devil knows his time is short and he understands the strength the youth represent for the Church of Christ, if he can capture them, he can bring the Church to her knees. To accomplish this, the enemy is offering scholarships (free tuition and boarding) to unsuspecting youths that have no hope of furthering their education. Once they are ensnared, they are lost! Resources that are meant to build the Body is used on gigantic projects that will be destroyed by fire in the end (2Peter 2:10). Friend this threat is real and we must stand up to it aggressively and radically: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12).

      In conclusion, there is a consequence for our actions on this earth. We were put on it to bring glory to God and not to mankind! One thing is certain though, no person will land in hell by mistake or by mistaken identity. Every person that is in hell or will go to hell, made or will make a conscious decision while living on earth to do so! Friend, Heaven is asking…What If It Is Not As You Imagined…? It is a dangerous thing to walk on assumptions and deductions. It is time to look again into the Perfect Mirror, which is the Word of God and do that which we had been called to do so as to bring Him glory and be approved by Him. Remember, we must build according to the pattern He has shown us (Exodus 25:40) so that on that day we would hear Him say to us: “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). God bless you as you ponder this.