Does It Really Matter?

Sometimes I get the feeling that people don't really care.  Maybe it's just me, but it seems that in the world, Christianity is professed, but not always lived out.  I'm not trying to be judgemental at all.  Some things are just obvious.  Trey Morgan wrote about this recently in his blog post BE BOLD TODAY.  Sometimes we, as Christians don't live out our lives boldly.  It's like we want to hide our Christianity or we only want it when it's convenient to do so.  But Jesus wants us to follow Him whole-heartedly....to pick up our cross (our burden) and follow Him daily.  He's coming back, just as the Bible tells us.  He wants us to be ready!

Does it really matter how we live?  Let's see what the Bible has to say. Consider this passage from 2 Peter 3:10-14 (the heading of this chapter says, "The Day of the Lord", meaning when Christ returns.)

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.


So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

Notice where I've enlarged the text and the question it asks:  What kid of people ought you to be?  Apparently it does matter how we live.  Of course, Jesus' free gift of salvation is not earned by our "goodness".  We could never be good enough to earn salvation.  But, because Christ gave His life for us and God has asked us to live a certain way in this passage, as well as many, many others, it seems that it really does matter how we live.

So what did this passage say about how we should live?  It said that we should live holy and godly lives.  What does that mean?  God is holy.  Holy means set apart.  So living a holy and godly lives is being set apart.  Set apart from what?  Since God hates sin and there is so much sin in the world and all around us.  It would make sense that we should be set apart from sin. 

The Bible actually lists sins throughout the Bible....too many to list here, but sin literally means to "miss the mark".  I don't know about you, but I probably miss the mark in some way at least once every day.  Thankfully, we serve a loving and merciful Heavenly Father, who is willing to forgive us when we miss that mark.

Does it really matter? Apparently, to God, it does.