Lately, I have been struggling with one question: “If God is in the business of salvation and redemption, why does it take so much work on my part?” I fear that the answer to this question will not be fully understood until we are bowing at the feet of our Father.
Jude made one statement in his letter to the followers of his half-brother, Jesus Christ. “I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.”
I have no problem, so far, understanding the first part of this statement. It is a struggle for all believers to stay strong in the faith. Our struggle is against our own carnal desires, and demonic influence on those desires. Jude also says that faith is “once for all” entrusted to the saints.
Jesus gave us one commission before leaving the earth, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Since the faith was entrusted to us, we have a great job to do here on the earth.
I have always believed that everyone gets some chance to have a relationship with Christ. The reason I have struggled so much with this question is that if we were “entrusted” with the faith, and do not share it, will those people around us still have a chance for a relationship with Christ?
God gives us opportunities every day. Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the very word of God. When we live our lives truly by how God’s living word commands that we live, people hear the word by the way we live our lives. Please allow me to encourage you not to assume that everyone on a Christian campus has a relationship with Christ. Do not miss those opportunities. If we do, we are not sharing the faith that we have been entrusted with. I do not want someone to miss a relationship with God because I failed to share the faith that I am entrusted with.
What if we do miss the opportunity? What if someone, living in a distant country, never has the opportunity to hear about Christ? I have to believe in God’s mercy. I have to believe that all people have a chance to accept or deny Christ, whether by divine intervention or by serendipity.
While I have to believe this, I also have to take God’s word seriously. Why does God choose to use us? The answer is simple, though the question seems difficult. God uses us for the same reason that He chose to use the nation of Israel: because we are weak. God is able to show His own strength through us. God entrusted the faith to us, so that He could be glorified.
Can people hear God’s word through nature? Can they reason out their faith and choose to believe? Yes, I believe so. By God’s own design, we are His greatest tools.
This is why it is so important for us to take seriously the faith that we are entrusted with. This is why our life is a constant struggle. We live our lives unashamed for the Kingdom of God. We exist as a living sacrifice. Everything that we do should be for the glory of God. We live in rebellion against society because friendship (support or sympathy) with the values, attitudes, and activities of this world is synonymous with enmity toward Christ. We are dead to this world.
This is a challenge for those who claim to live life for Christ: DO IT! Be the warrior that Christ called us to be. Let go of everything in your life that does not glorify our Father in Heaven. Contend, against our own earthly desires and Satan’s influence on those desires, for the faith that we are entrusted with. Share the faith by living your life completely for the glory of our God. There is no neutral ground. There is no in-between. Do not live a watered-down lifestyle. Be the man or woman of Christ that you need to be. Shoulder your cross, and shake the world.
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andrew paul cannon 
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