“I am a good person. I cannot think of any sins I need to confess to God. I do not do anything wrong—not really. I am better than most people that I know. I believe there is a God. That is good enough.”
These words are not ones I hear from others. They are mine. Too often they invade my mind after I have finished some meaningful Christian activity. What is wrong with me?
Yesterday I purchased some huge strawberries. I could not wait to bite into the juicy fruit. But when I took a bite, the strawberry was dry and pithy inside. It had deceived me. On the exterior it looked red and juicy. On the inside it was hollow and pithy. It had been grown to deceive. It had been overly fertilized so it would grow to enormous size quickly—leaving the center hollow and white.
The strawberries I grow in my garden are smaller, but they are solid fruit–juicy and red throughout. They are lovingly grown—weeded, watered, and fertilized—to produce nutritious, tasty fruit.
Is your spiritual life like the overly-fertilized, fast-growing, but hollow in the center commercially grown strawberry. Or have you carefully tended to your spiritual growth through frequent prayer, daily Bible study, and regular worship of God?
What is your core like? Be truthful with yourself. God knows your true heart. Self-deceptive, half-hearted worship robs you and me of the true joy of living for our Lord.
I desire to be a fruity to the core Christian. Do you?
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways. Psalms 119:2