I saw this enclosed within a sign outside a church building. I could not adjust the rest of the picture to something that I could use, so I just deleted it and used this small portion and put in within a frame. Anyway, even though it is not the beginning of the year, we should do what it says; follow the Bible and yes, go to church. Straightforward, simple instructions, easy to understand, yet few will do these things.
Why? There are many possibilities, but I think most of the time it boils down that they simply do not want to obey Jesus. Consider the following passages…
1 Corinthians 15 ( World English Bible )
1
Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to
you, which also you received, in which you also stand,
2 by
which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I
preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered
to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that
he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5
and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6 Then he
appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain
until now, but some have also fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared
to James, then to all the apostles,
8 and last of all, as to the
child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.
9 For I am
the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the assembly of God.
10 But by the grace of
God I am what I am. His grace which was bestowed on me was not
futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace
of God which was with me.
11 Whether then it is I or they, so
we preach, and so you believed.
Romans 6 ( WEB )
1
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may
abound?
2 May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live
in it any longer?
3 Or don’t you know that all we who were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We
were buried therefore with him through baptism to death, that just
like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
so we also might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have
become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be
part of his resurrection;
6 knowing this, that our old man was
crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so
that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.
7 For he who
has died has been freed from sin.
8 But if we died with
Christ, we believe that we will also live with him;
9 knowing
that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more
has dominion over him!
10 For the death that he died, he died to
sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God.
11
Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
One last passage from the Bible; Jesus said…
Matthew 28 ( WEB )
18 Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Jesus is not just a king, HE is king of kings and Lord of Lords. 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14 and 19:16. His will for you is to do what he told you to do. Paul knew this, the other apostles knew it and anyone who comes to The Scriptures with an open mind can easily know what to do in order to be saved from the consequences of their sins. Start today, reality is that it does not have to be the beginning of the new year to resolve to obey the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Why not now?
