What's keeping you from living for Jesus?

I’ll cut to the chase. If we are believers in Jesus Christ, we have no excuses for not living all out for Him. Are you living for Jesus? If not, what are your excuses.

Is it your current situation? That doesn’t fly. The Apostle Paul was in prison as he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. It doesn’t get much worse than a first century Roman prison. That didn’t stop Paul. He kept living for Jesus to the point that his life still greatly impacts us today.

Is it your past? That’s not an excuse either. Paul persecuted the church. He approved Stephen being stoned to death. How about the Apostle Peter? He denied Jesus three times in our Lord’s most dire situation.

These guys had plenty of opportunities to make excuses, but they didn’t. They lived for Jesus until their deaths.

How about Mary Magdalene? Jesus cast seven demons out of her. Some believe she was a prostitute. There’s plenty of room for shame and excuses there. That’s also a lifestyle that would be easy to slip back into, but she didn’t. She lived for Jesus. In fact, she was the first person to see our resurrected Lord and Savior.

All three of these examples didn’t make excuses and went on to live full lives for Jesus. Why? Because they truly had an experience with Jesus Christ. They encountered the resurrected Christ, and their lives were never the same. They wanted more of Jesus in their lives. They were disciples of Jesus and made other disciples. That was their lifestyle.

You may say, well, two were apostles and the other was an early disciple of Jesus when He was physically on the earth. That makes no difference. Jesus says in John 20:29, “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

That’s you and me. We haven’t seen Jesus, yet we believe. We are no different than Paul, Peter, and Mary except we were born in different centuries. If we are true believers in Jesus, we are all called to live this life for Him. No excuses.

So, what’s holding you back? Don't let anything keep you from living a full life for Jesus. Don’t let family, friends, work, school, government … whatever and whoever, keep you from the life Jesus has for you.

Think about our Brothers and Sisters who live in areas of the world where they are persecuted for their faith in Jesus, some unto death. They won’t let death keep them from serving Jesus. Let their lives inspire you as you pray for the persecuted church around the world.

In my next blog entry, I’ll write about how we can grow and commit our lives to Jesus. One thing to remember until then, if you are a believer in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit in you. He empowers you to live for Jesus, even in the toughest situations (Acts 1:8). So live for Jesus. Don’t delay. Start living for Him today.