Are You Living 'The Way'?
How are you living? Are you living according to your own "way" or living according to "The Way"? In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I and the Way." He didn't just mean He is the Way to heaven, but He also meant He is the Way we should live.
I believe that the reason Christians today aren't impressing the world very much is because we are insisting on living our lives based on our way instead of "The Way." We love to talk the talk but we don't always walk the walk. It's time for us to stop going through the religious motions and begin to bear the true fruit of our Christianity.
There is a very important verse in the book of James. It simply says, But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth] (James 1:22 The Amplified Bible).
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In this verse, James is challenging us not to just listen to the Word but to actually put into practice the things the Word commands us to do. This verse also says we are deceiving ourselves if we line our shelves at home with Christian books, get all of the teaching CDs, wear Christian jewelry and put Christian bumper stickers on our car but we fail to do the things we talk about.
If you want to inherit the blessings promised in the Bible, you have to do more than just read it. You must practice what it says-you must DO the Word. When you allow your life-your words, your actions and your thoughts-to be based on the Bible, only then will you be truly blessed. In other words, if you want to walk in "The Way," then your lifestyle needs to model the Word of God.
To really be like Jesus and do what God's Word says, we have to feed our spirit We do this by spending time studying the Bible, fellowshipping with God, praising God and worshiping Him, and being around other people who are positive and believe in Jesus too. Unless we feed our spirit this way, the "flesh," our sinful nature, will always have the upper hand. This means that even though you want to do what's right, you find yourself doing what's wrong because you're not strong enough spiritually to say no to what you should say no to and yes to what you should say yes to.
In Exodus 33:18, Moses prayed a wonderful prayer. I found this scripture very early in my walk with God, and I've prayed this prayer myself for many years. Moses simply said, I beseech You, show me Your glory (The Amplified Bible). Moses truly wanted to know the ways of the Lord. He wanted to pattern his life in such a way that it would please God, and his prayer reflects that desire. That's living "The Way."
When we live our lives according to His Way, our lives will bear the fruit of the Spirit. This is important because the Bible doesn't say that the world will know us by our church attendance or by the size of Bible that we carry around. It says that the world will know us by the fruit in our lives. When we live lives of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, we'll truly reflect God in everything we do.
But just reading about the fruit of the Spirit immediately produce the fruit in your life. You may need to change the way you are praying. I don't know what you spend time praying about or studying in the Word, but I spend a lot of time on ME!
Please understand…I'm not praying in a selfish way, but I've got to keep myself straight with God. I can't very well be teaching one way and living my life another way. What I do in life must be consistent with the things I say. And the same goes for you.
So let me ask you again: How are you living? Are you living the life you want to live? If you don't like your life, you need to examine some of the choices you are making. If those choices don't line up with the Word of God, then you aren't walking in "The Way."
If you'll begin to make decisions and actually do the things that line up with God's Word, then it won't be very long until you begin to see some very positive, new fruit in your life. You'll find yourself walking in "The Way"!
