Be ON FIRE For Christ

July 21

Some of us live our Christianity by the "skin-of-the-teeth." In other words, some of us are people who just BARELY get into Heaven. The Bible is clear about the reality that some professing Christians live their lives on the edge. How do they do that? By the many compromises they make with the world instead of living lives that are fully surrendered to Christ.

Read, for example the words of I Corinthians 3:11-15 where Paul says, "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on the foundation remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."

A.W. Tozer, an American pastor, April 21, 1897 - May 12, 1963, called such Christians "spiritual failures"

In his book, THE CRUCIFIED LIFE, he said, "It is possible to be a Chrisian and yet be a failure...Chistians who have wandered 40 long years in the wilderness, not going back into sin but not going on into the holy life. Wandering in an aimless circle, sometimes a little holier, and sometimes very unholy, but never going on..."

Tozer goes on to elaborate on a "spiritual failure's" classic excuse: "I've got to think about my family… after all…and God wants us to be wise…I can't push this thing too far. I can't become too spiritual because…It would cost too much…”

Tozer further declared, "For 40 years Israel wandered aimlessly about. God was with them. He did not destroy them; rather, He let them die one at a time. Occasionally He would punish them, but He did not destroy them as a nation. To me this is a terrible thing..." In Matthew 7:21-27, Jesus expounds on this topic. Here He says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Go away from Me, you evildoers!

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

In Titus 1:16 the Apostle Paul is even more direct in his assessment of lukewarm believers. Here he says of them, “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”

It is clear that living on the edge, being a ‘skin-of-the-teeth Christian, is not the way for a believer to go. In Revelation 3:15-16 Jesus made His position about half-hearted Christianity quite clear. He said, “I know your works, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were hot or cold. But because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of My mouth.”

There is nothing we can add to that—except—BE ON FIRE FOR CHRIST!