“For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord” Jeremiah 29:8-9 ESV.
2020, to say the least, has been a crazy year thus far. A pandemic, injustices publicized like never before, and an election year to top it all off.
As part of the leadership team at my church, I have witnessed and heard lots of opinions on these topics. For example, the debate of masks: “I’m not coming to church if people aren’t required to wear masks” and “I’m not coming to church if I am required to wear a mask.”
Wherever you stand on any of the hot topics of today, before you make a stand on any of them, read the Word. If we, Snowboarders and Skiers for Christ, have the mission of being the light of Jesus, then our foundation must be Jesus.
I have observed that the discussion on these topics has created a lot of division nationwide; especially the body of Christ. There shouldn’t be division in the church if we are all looking to the same place for guidance–reading our Bibles and striving to be like Christ. We find one of the clearest descriptions of what it means to be like Christ in Philippians 2. Philippians 2:2 says consider others more significant than yourselves and to do nothing out of rivalry. Yet, the very opposite seems to be going on today. We cannot possibly be a light for Christ when we are acting the opposite of Him.
Perhaps we find ourselves in this place because the foundation of our beliefs is not grounded in Christ. In the book of Jeremiah, he is constantly telling the Israelites not to listen to the false prophets, but to God. Friends, get in the Word of God! Get alone with God and read it, devote time to it daily. If we don’t do that, the opinions of the world are going to creep into our foundation of beliefs and we will not be grounded in Christ. Let us together study the Word and let that lead us to where we stand on the issues in today’s world.
CHALLENGE
Before you go on social media or the news, spend time in the Bible.
Commit to reading something in your Bible with a friend.
Pray the Church would be grounded in Christ and be able to ignore the lies of the world.
By Eunice Jenkins | Lincoln, NH