Here’s an analogy:

There’s $1M being given by the bank or something. No taxes, no hidden secrets in the fine print, just $1M. Everyone can be grouped roughly into these 4 categories: 

These categories are synonymous to our attitude towards the kingdom of God. In Ephesians, Paul tells us God has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms, and check this, the most important part: “because we are united in Christ”. We have all the spiritual blessings because of Christ.

In my country, we have this version of English called Pidgin English. And in that you’d say, “when I hammer, signs go dey”. What that simply means is that when I make money, or become successful or popular (when I hammer), things about me will change making it obvious (signs go dey).

It’s the same idea in the kingdom of God and with faith. When you accept Jesus, or call yourself a Christian, signs go dey. Things will, or at least should, change about you. And that is true because the Bible tells us in Matthew 7:16 that “you can identify them by their fruit, that is the way they act”.

To go on a bit of a tangent, I want to focus on the word “Christian”. What exactly does the word mean? To really understand it, we have to look at it with context. The word Christian is derived from the Greek word Christianos, which translates to little Christ, or belonging to Christ. And in Biblical times, this name originally started as a derogatory label for disciples and followers of Jesus coined by pagans and unbelievers, but they embraced it and ran with it. 

It is important to highlight that the disciples did not pick the name “Christians” for themselves. No, it was unbelievers that gave them that name because they acted like Jesus. They didn’t have to go around and tell everyone that they were Christ-followers; people could just tell by the way they lived, acted, spoke… They didn’t choose their name, they were identified by their fruits, the way they act. 

So, if you’re calling yourself a Christian, then there must be some evidence of it. It’s like if you call yourself an athlete, there must be some evidence of it, like competing/playing one or more sports. And you can only fake it so long. If you say you’re an athlete, but you never work out, never practice, when competition season rolls around and you try to compete, how well do you really think you’ll do? The truth will be exposed when it is tried and tested. It’s the same way with faith. You call yourself a Christian but your Bible has been sitting on your shelf untouched, gathering dust and cobwebs. 

This is a really good analogy Jesus uses. You know a tree by what fruits hang off it. You don’t expect apples on an orange tree, and vice versa. You can take all the oranges off an orange tree and clip apples onto it somehow, and for a time people might be deceived, but after a while, the oranges start to grow back and the apples fall off. Because of that, you’ll know it’s an orange tree, because the fruits reveal the root. 

You can say you’re a Christian, wear a cross around your neck, carry a Bible everywhere you go and say ‘bless you sister, bless you brother’, but those things don’t necessarily make you Christian. They’re not bad to do, no, they’re good things, but in the grand scheme of things, if your root (heart) is not right, those things are simply performative. For some time you might fool everyone, but after a while, your true nature (your fruit) the way you live your life, the decisions you make and the things you say, reveal the true content of your heart (your root). 

And the whole living for Jesus thing is not easy. It is literally called dying to your flesh, so it’s going to be hard. You’re quite frankly going against how your body is naturally wired to run: holding back your tongue, loving/extending kindness to people after they hurt or offend you, waking up half an hour earlier so you can read your Bible, doing these things everyday, without fail, it’s hard, and God warned you about that beforehand. But with it is the promise that He’ll be right there with you through everything, holding your hand like your mum or dad would when you would go to the hospital when you were a kid. 

He’s not just there with us in spirit, but He’s given us physical aid, in friends and community, and the ultimate cheat sheet to living a meaningful, fruitful and altogether well rounded life in this book: the Bible. 

You know everyone’s favourite bible verse:

God loved us so much that He sent His only begotten son, the only one who bore complete resemblance and similarity with Him. He gave Him up to an evil, and wicked people. The people He came to help shamed Him, persecuted Him and turned their backs on Him. Jesus knew all this would happen, but still did it anyway. He died so we could join Him in heaven with the father. 

When we were in St Croix over March break, someone had asked why a good God lets people go to hell. I wrestled with that question for a while because honestly, it was something I had thought about too. If this all powerful God has the power to stop people from going to hell then why does He let them go? And on the Sunday we were leaving, the pastor at the church there, Pastor Robert, asked the question differently: why does a perfect and holy God let us imperfect and perverse people with endless flaws and weaknesses spend eternity with Him in heaven?

And all you have to do to spend eternity with Him is quit doing the things that are harmful to you, and trust in someone who has your best wishes at heart. I don’t know about you but that sounds like more than a $1M deal to me. 

As the school year comes to a close and summer starts and for some of us, new chapters in life, I want to urge you, everyone here, to not play about this guy, Jesus. Don’t take Him lightly. Don’t say, “I’m too young now, I want to live a little then I can give this Jesus thing a try,” because what is to gain if you have the whole world and still lose your soul? The partying and drinking and link ups, they don’t satisfy you. If they did, why do you feel worse after than when you were in it? So, I want to encourage you to live for the one who satisfies you and can fill that hole or sadness or incompletion you feel because He has nothing but good plans for you. That person is Jesus.