Lent - Day 25
20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” (2 Peter 2:20–22, ESV)
What a sad state! To come face to face with the Living God and then turn away because you failed to recognize Him. There are too many Christians, who failed to walk in the newness of their re-creation and remained a dog who simply returns to its vomit and stayed unchanged as a sow who was washed, but returns to roll around again in the mud.
What more is there for that “Christian”? The transformation in Jesus is not an automatic, out of body experience that just happens to you like many might assume and prefer, however it is the daily walking out the decision you have consciously and intentionally made to follow Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. Everyday and every moment we are given a genuine choice (that we never had before) to actually choose to walk with God or choose to walk away from God. Before Jesus, we were already all condemned to destruction because of the decision Adam and Eve made in the Garden.
Jesus’ death and resurrection sets us free from that condemnation and pays our ransom to save us from destruction. Now Jesus is eternal life and He is heaven. If we want eternal life and if we want to “enter into heaven,” then it necessitates that we follow Him. There is no other way because Jesus made it clear that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one can come to the Father except through Him.
Following Jesus is not about doing religious things and being religious, but it truly is about getting to know Him and letting yourself be known to Jesus. Build a deeper relationship with Jesus by spending more and more time with Him and let your guard down and be real and vulnerable with Jesus.