Have you ever been in a conversation with someone when a phrase like this comes up, “No! Listen to me – I am serious?” Usually, when we hear something like that, our senses perk up, and we tend to listen more carefully.

Like that conversation, I wonder if our spiritual antennas are up to grasp how serious God is? If we could understand his passionate love towards us, I believe we would take him more seriously! The word of God tells us that He (God) has loved us with an everlasting love and drawn us with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Jer 31:3   

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever would believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Think about it this way; if someone is willing to give their only son over to death for a cause, would they not be perceived as very serious! As you know, God gave up everything to pay for our sin so that we could once again be intimate with him. God gave everything for us! The only reasonable or proper response for us would be to give everything we have and are for him! When someone gives their life away in a marriage covenant, they expect the person they marry to do the same! If God gave everything to be eternally intimate with you and me, shouldn’t our response be to give everything to him?  

My thoughts go to Apostle Paul, who had a lot of accomplishments in his life, but he considered everything worthless compared to his longing to be intimate with Christ.

Philippians 3:7-11 But whatever was to my profit; I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11  and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  

Apostle Paul, like Jesus Christ, was serious! Here is a question for you to consider; like apostle Paul, are you willing to lose it all for Christ? Since God gave everything for you, would it make sense to conclude that giving your whole life to him would be normal and what should be considered true Christianity? Isn’t it a plausible argument that anything less than this should be deemed as just religiosity or, even more, false religion?

Consider how precious you are to God! He thought you were worth saving – he thought you were worth keeping – he thought you were to die for! Wow! God was willing to take your place and suffer to pay for your sin because of his selfless, passionate love for you! At this point, the most reasonable question I could ever ask you is…

What Is Your Response