Read John 8:31-47
Jesus in this passage challenges those who had begun to follow him to turn from their sinful ways and begin to follow his instructions. There are some Jews who wanted to kill him and he tells them that they are doing the works of their father, the devil. The Jews claim to be children of Abraham but are not living as if Abraham is their father. Jesus tells them that they are not hearing from God because they do not belong to God, which they should if they were children of Abraham. However their actions are apparently disqualifying them from being Abraham’s children.
Applying this challenging teaching to today we can again see the importance of your faith being personal and you personally doing what Jesus tells you to do. Our faith should not just be the faith of our ancestors but ours. If you have put your faith in Jesus already we are then called to make disciples of every nation. By our words and deeds we show others if our faith is genuine and important to us or not. You likely know individuals who grew up in a church but now do not go to church except on special occasions. They may claim to be a Christian because they were born to Christian parents and were raised in a Christian home but today they don’t read the Bible, pray, worship, or do what Jesus says. They claim Christianity as their heritage but it’s not their identity today. As believers we are to rea
ch out to those around us by showing by example what it means to be a Christian. To be a Christian means that you do what Jesus tells you to do and to tell others about him not that your parents had you baptized as a baby or that you did confirmation class as a kid. Being a Christian is a decision every individual has to make and a great way to influence others to begin to follow Jesus is by modeling for them and telling them about what it means for you to follow Jesus. Don’t forget to pray for them too but by your words and deeds we can reach out and disciple those who are lost and far now.
