Most of the time, believers tend to forget that every human being on earth is a child of God. The difference between those who have accepted Christ and those who have not yet done so is that through Christ they have become sons and daughters of God and take part in the heritage of the Kingdom of God (Romans 8:17). My brother, my sister, this meditation is not about “the others”, but it invites us who have already accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour to evaluate our position in Christ, according to how we act: actively or passively. So you and active or a passive child of God?Read these two non-exhaustive descriptions to determine who you are:
– THE ACTIVE CHILD OF GOD knows that in his own strength, he cannot overcome the evil spirit that reigns in this world, so he hangs onto Jesus for strength and seeks the wisdom and understanding of the Word to move forward in life while learning to resist the devil (James 4:7). He also tells his brothers and sisters in Christ about his struggle and asks them to pray (after he himself started praying because he knows that the prayer of the others does not replace his own prayers!)… In addition, he uses his will to thank and praise Jesus for the honour to suffer for His sake and does not allow himself to feed the purpose of devil by giving heed to exhaustion, distraction, discouragement, tiredness. But instead, he uses his will to get up even an hour earlier in the morning to call upon the Lord for His strength and to spend time with Him often, because during that time spent with the Lord he leaves all his doubts, worries and fears at the Cross and gaining the assurance that the Spirit of God will give him the power and faith he needs to build up the righteousness that produces the fruits of love and a sound mind… for him to start walking in the Spirit and in truth. And all this, to enable him to be able to take the authority to rebuke evil spirits in Jesus’ name. An active child of God never starts his day without being fully equipped and armoured in Christ!
– THE PASSIVE CHILD OF GOD always tries to keep on serving the Lord but ends up feeling frustrated, angry and even useless as he soon realises that he is not moving forward spiritually. He feels too miserable to even pray and does not tell his brothers and sisters in Christ about his struggle quickly because he developed a false humility. And, when he speaks about it, much later, the evil spirit has gained much power and has already done much damage in his mind and faith… in a way he has become weak mentally and emotionally and he is overwhelmed with mixed feelings, confusion and all he now expects is a sudden miracle from the Lord, which makes him even more passive as he gives heed to exhaustion, discouragement, tiredness and more sleep than spending time with the Lord. Doubts, worries and fear increase in him and slowly but surely he falls into dark or sinful thoughts, if not into sinful actions.
Now, my friend, know that the active child of God and the passive child of God have one thing in common: they sincerely ‘try’. However, their spiritual definition of the word ‘try’ is not the same… and the Bible says:“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:26). In fact they do the opposite things, but one produces spiritual fruit and the other does not! It is very easy to see passivity in someone else but ourselves… it’s hard! Yet, the results of passivity are destructive spiritually. Now after reading this meditation, can you honestly answer this question today? What kind of child of God are you? The Lord knows, but do you know it? Your salvation and your spiritual freedom may depend on your answer. Be sincere and answer to yourself for your own good: “are you and active or a passive child of God?” Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.