All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 HCSB
A Christian is a Christ follower. Many people profess to be Christians. Many of these who profess to be Christians do not pray daily, study their Bible daily or attend worship services. Many say they can be a Christian without all that. What do you think? Today I want us to consider a few things and attempt to answer this question. Can you be a Christian without prayer, Bible study and regularly attending worship services? Can you actually follow Christ if you are not totally dedicated to Him? Are you truly saved if you don’t put Him first in your life? You need to be sure.
We are told that we are saved by grace through faith in Ephesians 2:8-9. Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:37-39 to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul and all our strength and to love others as we love ourselves and we will be obeying all ten commandments. So why would we need to read our Bible or pray every day and why would we need to attend church? Well, I’m glad you asked. There are a number of reasons.
Let’s start with Bible reading. We don’t need to read our Bible; we need to study our Bible. Just as our Scripture passage says, our Bible is good for many things. But most importantly it is God’s love letter to us. What does it say to Him if we don’t read it? It’s also our instruction manual for how we should live our lives complete with instructions for what happens when you get it right and what could happen when you get it wrong. It’s like our policy and procedure manual. It would be foolish not to read it. But when we study it, we learn more and more about God. The more we know Him the more we love Him. You have no idea what you are missing if you are not studying your Bible. I strongly encourage you to get into Sunday school and/or into a good Bible study class.
Reading our Bible is when God speaks to us through His Word. Praying is when we speak to Him. If someone told you they loved you with all their heart but never spoke to you, would you believe them? If we love Him, we want to speak to Him about everything that goes on in our lives. We want to acknowledge Him in all we do (Proverbs 3:5-6). If we love others as we love ourselves, we want to pray prayers of intercession for them. Why would one choose to not pray?
Church attendance is going into the Lord’s house to praise and worship Him with like-minded believers. If I love someone with all my heart, all my soul, and all my strength I will make a special effort to spend time with them. I will visit them in their house. Also, the Bible tells us to not stay away from our worship meetings in Hebrews 10:24-25. Many people say they can worship God without going to church. This is true, but how often do you see people who are not in church praising and worshiping the Lord? Our former pastor said when we get to heaven, we will be singing songs of praise and worshiping the Lord all day every day. If you plan on going to heaven, you might want to get some practice in.
If you claim to be a Christian, simply ask yourself what comes first in your life. Our pastor often says that for true joy you need to put Jesus first, others second and yourself last. Look at your life. Is that an accurate description? I spent many years of my life saying I was a Christian, but now looking back I’m not so sure. It’s not because I sinned, we all do that. It’s because I didn’t put Jesus first. I didn’t put others first or even second. I put me first.
When I truly dedicated my life to Christ, all that changed. I wanted to spend time with Him in Bible study, prayer and praise and worship. Can you be a Christian without all that? Well, I’m going to answer that question with a question: Why would you want to? If you love Him, you will want to spend time with Him continually in prayer, daily in Bible study and enter into his house to praise and worship as often as you can.
Have a great weekend!