When you buy an item from a store, such as a piece of furniture, or a piece of exercise equipment, or even a swimming pool, you may sometimes be required to set it up and assemble the pieces together before you can use it. If you bought something like an exercise bike you may have to unpack the box that it came in, and lay out all of the individual parts on the floor so that you can find everything easily. But next comes the actual assembly. Almost everything that you buy that needs to be assembled at home will come with something very important: the manual which tells you which parts go where, and what tools you will need to complete the assembly, step by step.
In a very similar way, a child’s Lego set is just like this, only I would argue that a Lego set is far more complicated with the hundreds of pieces that you need to put together. If you have ever had to put one of these sets together you will know what I mean when I say, you need to follow the instruction manual if you want your creation to look exactly like the picture on the box. You could just make whatever you want with the pieces, but if you really want to turn those loose Lego blocks into the picture, you have to follow the instructions that came with them.
And you know, this rings especially true in our faith in Christ. If you think of eternal life as a box of Legos, Jesus has given us that box with the instructions of how to put it all together. Jesus tells us everything that we need to know and do in the pages of the Bible. All that we need to do is read it, follow it, and put it all together. Jesus is the “picture” that we can look at, but it is up to us to follow His instruction manual to transform ourselves into being just like Him.
James 1:22-25 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
A hearer, and a doer. You have to be both. You will never complete one of these construction projects if you only read or hear the instructions. You will never achieve your objective if you forget what it is that you need to do. You must follow the instructions contained in God’s Word.
There are many people who get dressed up on Sunday morning, sit in a pew, sing a few songs, and even listen to a sermon, but when they get back home they seem to completely forget what they just heard. Sure, they want to lay claim to the name of “Christian” but when compared to the instruction manual which is our Bible, they look nothing like one. It is just religion to them, an outward show for them, but they don’t really believe it in their hearts.
Christianity is more than sitting in a church for a couple hours a week. It is more than displaying a cross on a shelf in your house. It is more than just reading a Bible. It is following the instructions found inside.
Luke 6:46-49 “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”
Does just saying, I am a Christian, does that really make you one? We are who we are by the things which we do. We are Christians when we hear and do the teachings of the Lord. Our faith in Jesus Christ is shown and proven by our actions. Step by step.
In Christ,
Andrew
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