Just a little change

Change.  Some of us like it.  Some of us are more resistant to it than others.  Some of us choose it.  Some of us have it imposed on us.  Some of us change when staying the course is too hard.  Some of us refuse to change even when we ought to.

The recent Brexit vote was an interesting observation of change.  Much of the Western media have characterised the vote as one which turns Great Britain inward, and is in a word, foolish.  Perhaps.  I do not pretend to know how it will turn out.  If indeed it is as foolish as the media make it out to be, it would seem that the British people are so determined to change the status quo and spite the Europhiles that they would cut off their nose to do just that.

What I do know is that sometimes people, including myself, behave this way.  We are so determined we are right that, even when presented with evidence to the contrary, we go ahead to do something to change our lives for the worse.  Perhaps it's a marriage that seems to be going stale, so you look for another person who was the man/woman you were "meant" for.  Perhaps it's a car or house or bag you can't really afford, but you're tired of envying your friends and neighbours, so you find a good reason to buy it anyway.  Perhaps it's a cell leader who presses you too hard, and you just want to get away, so you find a "better fit" for your cell or church.

In all these cases, God may be telling us - stay the course!  But we decide, thanks but no thanks.  And if we look hard enough, we find something that supports our choice to do what we want to do.

 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Timothy 4:3

But sometimes, the problem is quite the opposite.  We refuse to change even when we need to.  We know that Christ produces change - change that transforms and produces fruitfulness.  Yet, even after we know Christ, we refuse to change.  This is part of the reason why many people think Christians are hypocrites - despite Christ's love and instruction, we refuse to change, and we are exactly the same as before.

So... how to change?  It starts with a really small step.  In our heads.  Just decide.  I have decided to follow Jesus.  No turning back.

Maybe you have never met this Jesus Christ, but you're feeling hopeless or helpless, or more usually, you just feel that life is blah.  Yet you tell yourself - bah, religion!  Crutch for the weakminded!  Dare to take a small little step.  Can so many of the kind, intelligent, reasonable Christian friends that you have, have no basis for their faith that Jesus is Lord?  Ask simply - God, if you're real, speak to me.  Maybe the fact you're reading this is the sign!  Ask a friend you trust - can I come to church with you?

Maybe you tell yourself you're already a Christian, or at least a sort-of-Christian.  But wait, my life still seems the same.  It's so full of work, boy/girlfriend, "me time" - it's just too much to change.  Dare to take a small little step.  Remind yourself - God transforms.  God calls me for a reason.  Let me Decide.  From now on, I'll turn up for weekend service.  That's simple enough.  Start from there.  The other parts will come in time.  If our hands are full of our own things, how can God fill them with His better things?

Fellow by the name of Jonathan Reed once wrote an ingenious poem like this -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWSYPDh7O5Q You have to watch it to understand my point about how a small change can make a big difference.

Start small, but decide to make a change.  Let God amaze you with what He can do with a mustard seed's worth of faith.

I heard this weekend that "Obedience is tested when there is disagreement".  If we only obey God when it is in agreement with what we ourselves want to do, then that's not obedience.  That's just convenience.  It's when we doubt, even disagree in our heads, yet go ahead in faith, that obedience comes into play.

In Luke 5, Jesus tells Peter the fisherman to put out to deeper waters and to let down the nets.  Peter tells Jesus, "I've been fishing all night, and have no fish!  But because you say so, I will do it".  In John 21, the disciples have been fishing all night again.  Despite being fishermen by profession, they caught nothing!  The next morning, Jesus told them - cast the nets on the other side of the boat.

In both cases - what happens?  Yes, fish :)  So much that the nets almost break!  Want to see change and fruitfulness?  Tell Jesus - "Because you say so, I will do it".  Then, you will see that even a small change can make a big difference - fruitfulness will come!

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