Walking with God in the Last Days
by J. Elem
Enoch walked with God even as he prophesied his judgment. We often compromise our faith when we come up against hardship, or are tempted by material comforts when getting a job or having children. Our only comfort as believers is in salvation, and truly walking with God means putting him first, overcoming all other obstacles and temptations.
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For example, once upon a time, I was alone and I did not have a job or a spouse. At that time I was Christ-centered and my life, time, and energy were all oriented and organized around serving the Lord. Once I got a job, my life changed, and I became work-centered. And then later, I got married, and I started doing what the world does, saying, "You have to decide, do you want to focus on your family or on your career?" Sometimes Christians discuss this question like unbelievers do. In fact, neither should be considered the most important, but the gospel of the Lord and His church should be the most central and the most important.
After that I had children, and it became very natural to think that children should be at the center. Chinese people especially like to put children at the center, saying that they are the little emperor or princess. After the child is born, the whole family is centered on him. This culture naturally affects Chinese Christian parents, and children even slowly take the place of God and become idols.
I often tell some brothers and sisters that young Christians must pass several hurdles in life: the work hurdle (in some cases, graduation and work together), the marriage hurdle, and the child hurdle. Some people were in a good state of faith until they faced these hurdles, but as soon as they faced these three hurdles, their state of faith fell apart. I even know of more extreme cases where people have given up their faith. Why is this the case? The core question of passing these three hurdles is: When your external identity changes, can you hold on to the unchanging one in your heart and not be tempted by the devil to start wavering and be used by him? Has your inner identity shifted? This is very important. Is my inner identity, my first identity, still Christian? Or has my first identity become my profession after I have a job? Or has my first identity become a parent after I had children? Whether or not we can keep this priority after going through an external identity change actually determines whether or not our faith can stand firm.
But the more fundamental question, to put it more simply, is whether you live your life for the Lord and the gospel, or whether the Lord and the gospel are there to give you a better life. I once heard a preacher say, "Christians in our generation should really fight against money to the last drop of our blood!" Though I felt indignant hearing it, now I think he was right. It is true that many people love money and mammon more than they love the Lord. I believe to this day that almost all of us need to fight money to the last drop of our blood. Never believe that money is neutral. But what I have learned recently is that it is not just money we fight, but something much more fundamental, which is "life." The real battle is whether a true Christian should be devoted to their earthly life or the gospel and mission. Is it life for faith? Or is it faith for life? The battle on this point should shed blood at every step! Unfortunately, Christians often fail.
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J. Elem served as pastor in a house church in Beijing and studied at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. He is married with a daughter and a son.
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Category: Devotional
Date created: 2021
Scripture: Genesis 5:21-32, Jude 14-16
Key terms: eschatology, parenting, discipleship
