Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.  Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  – Ephesians 3:17

When I first started following the Lord, I really thought the primary goal was to stay away from sinful things.  For example, I thought that when I said a cuss word the day after I got saved that I simply wasn’t saved anymore.  I’d go on to walk many more church aisles so I could be saved again, only to feel as if I’d lost my salvation again because I committed some other sin.

I hear all the time people tell me that they don’t feel worthy to do anything for God because they “aren’t perfect.”  We have got to quit saying that.  Of course, we aren’t perfect in the sense that Jesus never sinned, but we are perfect in the sense that He has given us perfection.  He has made us complete in Him.  He didn’t do this because we earned it . . . He did it because we asked to be forgiven and asked to be made clean by His blood.  Thus, if you are a Christ follower, you are perfect because He is the only one who can give you perfection.  This is why there is no other name given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). 

Think of someone you’d really like to see saved, maybe someone you’ve already been praying will begin to follow the Lord.  Suppose you could grant them forgiveness and save them.  What would you have it look like?  Would you just snap your fingers and have them suddenly not want to go to bars, not want to sleep around, not go to rock concerts, not cuss, not drink alcohol, not smoke, not go to R-rated movies, and feel free to place other sins here that many of us have been taught will send a saved person right back to hell.  If the person you forgave immediately stopped all those things, would you think they were saved?

I think what well-meaning Christians end up doing is more harmful than good.  Many preachers, at least some of the ones that I’ve heard, preached behavior modification as opposed to giving Christ a home in one’s heart.  The truth is, I would hear how bad my behavior was and constantly run to altars, but it was the preachers who made the Bible interesting, who loved God’s Word that made me want to read it for myself.  The more I read it, I began to want to modify many of my behaviors, not because men told me it was wrong, but because Christ in me was leading me and prompting me to follow Him.  His roots were growing in me and making me strong.

Today, I still want those roots growing in me making me strong.  When I preach, I want to encourage people to let Christ make a home in their hearts.  Then I want to pray that their roots will grow down into God’s love to keep them and make them strong.  If this happens, no person will have to tell Christians what they can and can’t do . . . Jesus will do that for them!

Lord, more than any other point in my life, I see salvation as a growing process.  The parable of the sower makes so much sense.  I pray for any and all who would read today.  Will You make Your home in their hearts as they trust in You? Allow their roots, Lord, to grow deep into Your love and make them strong!  Show me Your glory, Lord, this side of heaven before I draw my last breath.  Revive individuals, towns, and communities through the power of Your Holy Spirit.  Amen