Follow Me If You Want to Live

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:13-14 (ESV)

“Come with me if you want to live.” It’s one of the most iconic lines delivered in the cinematic universe within the past 30 years. In fact, the actor who delivered it is known for his one-liners in movies. It is none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. The line was uttered to help those he was trying to save realize the enormity of the moment. If they stayed where they were, they would die. If they followed him, they would live. And, as with any good action movie franchise, they decided to stay and die. They acknowledged the hero, but decided to do their own thing instead. Oh, wait. Nope! They ran with Arnold and lived!

Do you understand that right now you are faced with death, eternal death, when you choose not to accept Christ fully into your life? Sure, many acknowledge that Christ died for their sins, and that is amazing! But, to belong to the Kingdom of God you need to embrace His way of doing things. It’s not enough to simply acknowledge the Hero. You must follow Him if you want to receive eternal life.

The Apostle Paul had some very strong words on what our Christian life must look like, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” In other words, you must allow the Holy Spirit into, and be Lord of, your life in order to receive the “inheritance” which Christ promises you. What’s that inheritance? Eternal life in the Kingdom of God. To put this into a modern context, Paul is telling you that the Spirit is calling, “Follow me if you want to live.”

Unfortunately, many of us choose to live life on our terms rather than according to the Holy Spirit. I’m not talking about mistakes. I’m talking about choosing not to listen to God’s direction out of pride. The “I’ve got it from here, God” attitude. This is not only dangerous, but will lead to our eternal demise. We don’t have the keys to the Kingdom of God. We don’t have a roadmap of how to live this life, or the next one. Only God, through the Holy Spirit, has those.

So, today, and every day, choose to follow the Spirit if you want to live.

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