'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God,' this haunting phrase of the Lord. Peter puts it this way: 'The dog has returned to its vomit, and the sow has washed and wallowed in the mire.' To avoid this horrible eventuality for the newly baptized at Abba House, I gave them some recommendations this Sunday. And this Tuesday we are praying for them during prayer 5 to 6 along these lines. I urged them to:
- Allow yourself to be taught and become students of God's word. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus commands the church to go and make disciples of the nations and 'teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you' (Matt. 28:20). We will do our part, following baptism we will continue to teach them and teach them the principles of God. May they do theirs by being ready to receive instruction, advice, direction, and correction, if necessary.
- Turn away from sin. When the adulterous woman was brought to Jesus, He forgave her and told her, 'Go and sin no more' (John 8:11). God accepts us as we are in Christ, He forgives us, and then He asks us to change our lives and turn our backs on sin. Let them abhor sin and make a complete 180-degree turn.
- Resist the devil. Ephesians 6 describes at length The fight that the Christian must wage against the spiritual forces that will try to harm him and harm his relationship with God, and he is called to oppose them with the fiercest resistance. Whether it is direct or indirect attacks, or even pressure from both sides, it is necessary to resist.
- Pray. 'Pray without ceasing.' (1 Thess 5:18) The Christian's natural habitat is the presence of God, and he who learns to live there cannot but live victoriously.
- Follow good examples. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul encourages the Philippians, 'All of you, brothers, be imitators of me, and pay attention to those who walk according to the example you have in us.' (Phil 3:17). In the body of Christ, there are those who walk according to the biblical example and those who do not. Everyone has a choice of their own examples; let them choose those who are faithful to God, faithful in love, in service, in prayer, in speech, for each will give an account of his life.
- Serve the Lord. Living not as consumers and customers of God, but as servants who serve 'with eagerness, as serving the Lord and not men' (Eph. 6:7). The apostle Paul defined himself as the 'doulos', slave of Christ. It is said that 20% of the members do 80% of the work in our churches. Now we have received much, we are called to give much. Our seriousness in service is proportional to our gratitude to God and our revelation of Jesus.
- Love and forgive. So from the very beginning we announced to them the golden rule of Christian life – brotherly love, 1 John 3:11 'For this is what you were told and heard from the beginning: that we should love one another.' He who knows how to love and forgive will keep a pure heart, will live happily, and will know God's favor upon him every day. He will have longevity in the house of God.
Let us carry the young shoots in our hearts and in our prayers; may they have the zeal of Paul. Philippians 3:13 'Brothers... one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead.'
Shalom!
