How Well Do You Believe

Matthew 10:22
All men will hate you because of Me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

This is one of those hard statements of Jesus' that we don't hear often in church. The reason being is because we have made belief in Jesus something that you stumble upon or that you just need to say "Yes" at the right places in a prayer. We even think that belief is acknowledging a particular religion or having decent church attendance. We have become so casual with our belief that it is not evident in who we are.

This verse pulls no punches. In essence it says that, "Everyone is going to hate you because you love Me over anything in this world to the point that it makes everyone uncomfortable. Because of that pressure many won't stand firm for long but those that do stand firm to the complete end will be saved."

Saying I believe is easy; acting upon that belief is hard. When I was going to a youth group I heard several different people say that believing in Jesus was easy. They would quote John 3:16 like it was just a One-A-Day vitamin to get saved. The reality is that to follow Jesus is more than just saying "I believe." When the Bible says, "...whoever believes in [Jesus] will have eternal life" it is not talking about those that say, "Uh huh" in a prayer but of those that say, "I am" in a lifestyle.

Believing in Jesus has cost me friendships.
Believing in Jesus has cost me relationships.
Believing in Jesus has cost me certain pleasures.
Believing in Jesus has cost me a tremendous amount of life's experiences.
Believing in Jesus has cost me my life.
All of these are well worth giving up to Him over and over again.

I think instead of asking a person, "What do you believe," a better question would be "How well do you believe?"