Have your own faith in Him | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: June 30, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 13, No. 9

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the last day of this month and also to the first week of the month of July that we are about to enter. My prayer is that you will experience the glory of God in your life in ways beyond your imagination in the week and all through the new month ahead of us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now I want to admonish you about the importance of taking your own personal relationship with God very seriously instead of relying on the relationship of others with Him in order to enjoy Him. I am drawing your attention to this because there are many so-called believers in Christ Jesus today who rely solely on the faith of their church leaders in God or on the faith of certain members of their families in God for their progress or protection in life. And that can be very dangerous for them.

For instance, we are told this in the bible about a king of Judah called Joash: “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest.” (2Chron 24:2NIV) Why did this man do what was right in the eyes of the Lord during the years of Jehoiada the priest? It was because this priest was guiding him in the path of righteousness. We are even told in the account of his life that it was this priest that chose the two wives he married for him (2Chro 24:3).

However, after the death of this priest, things changed for Joash. He forsook the Lord and began to do things as he pleased. Look at what is said in the bible about that:

“After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem. Although the LORD sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.” (2Chron 24:17-19NIV)

Did you see that? After the death of Jehoiada, Joash was enticed by the leaders of the land into idolatry. And he followed them. Why did he follow them? He followed them because he himself did not have any serious personal relationship with God. So, he did whatever he did for God before that time because of Jehoiada and not because he truly believed in God or loved Him. That means he was simply doing eye-service. He was trying to please Jehoiada because he was the one that did not allow him to be killed when he was but an infant and also because he was the one that raised him and made it possible for him to be king. (Cf. 2Chro 22- 23)

But when the man died, and he no longer had any reason to please him, he abandoned God and followed others into idolatry. So, his reign was cut short and he died an untimely death. And this, as I said before, is showing us that it is important that we have our own personal relationship with God. In other words, don’t serve God, go for church meetings or act like a holy person simply because you are trying to please your parents, friends, husband, wife or employer. Instead, serve God and live a holy life because you have come to know Him as one that is truly worthy of your worship. Otherwise, a time will surely come when it will become clear to everyone that you have been a fraud all along.

More so, if you do not have your own personal relationship with God and are just living off the goodness of God in the lives of others, a time may come when their faith in God will only work for them and will not be able to work for you. Look at what God Himself has to say about this:

“The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, even if these three men — Noah, Daniel and Job — were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD.”” (Ezek 14:12-14NIV)

I am sure you can now see the explanation for the untimely death of all the children of Job in one day (Job 1). All along, they had been sustained by the faith of their father in God. But his faith could not protect them from the devil on the day that he came to strike the family; his faith could only protect him. What if they had taken God as seriously as he had taken God? Then the story would most likely have ended differently. So, have your faith in God instead of relying on the faith of others in Him. Then even if the faith of others in Him fail or become weak, your own faith in Him will take you over.

Have a love week.

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