Lord, I want to be a vessel You work through. That statement should be the prayer of every believer. This is a call for obedience to everyone who desires salvation. While salvation is granted by God’s grace, the believer who is saved now must go beyond stating that he or she wants to be used by God. Now it comes down to action…doing the things that God would have us to do. God chose you to use you. He chose you to sing His praise and worship Him. He chose you to read and study His Word to impart it to others.
In Hebrew, the word “neglect” is to depart from or drift away from something. When you drift away from something and pursue your own dreams outside of God, you will find yourself not supporting the things of God. You will be caught up in your own efforts, which leads to sin, and a further departure from where God would have you grow in your faith.
It is easier to drift than to struggle, fight or stand against the one who wants to keep your from growing in faith, keep you from growing in faith, keep you from progressing in life, keep you from becoming more than you could ever believe what you can be.
God is all for your growth and development, and giving you the life that you could never dream of.
Isaiah 61:10-11
I greatly rejoice in the Lord,
I exult in my God;
for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation
and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness,
as a groom wears a turban
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth produces its growth,
and as a garden enables what is sown to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.
The garments of salvation are God’s covering from a number of things that we encounter in this world that kept us in worldly behaviors. All of these issues are resolved through the covering of the blood of Jesus Christ in His righteousness. From there, your salvation will grow in your efforts to serve Him. There is a desire to share God’s blessing to you with others.
Philippians 1:27
Just one thing: Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, working side by side for the faith that comes from the gospel.
God does not lie about His promises, but He has to prepare us to be ready to receive the promises that He has given. If you are not prepared in life for His promises, you can’t be honored by God. No matter what is happening in your life, you still need to stand in the faith. Only then can you realize His victory.
Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Philippians 3:18-19
18 For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things.
The keys to these verses are being obedient to God’s will or being obedient to those matters of the world. If you are obedient and desire to please God, He will desire to please you and bless your obedience to Him.
Scripture reveals that we can neglect salvation because of a refusal to believe God. When you have chosen not to believe God, you have chosen to be an unbeliever.
A person who is saved has a genuine struggle between the desires of the flesh and the Holy Spirit that dwells within. A believer seeks God and has the desire to be faithful and obedient to Him. One who refuses to come to Jesus does not believe in Him, and will have to struggle through life the best way he or she can. We can become our own experts in living our life, only to mess it up.
John 5:39-40
39 You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me. 40 And you are not willing to come to Me so that you may have life.
Pay attention to what you have been taught and put it into practice. God’s Word is for our protection and for our benefit. He does not want us to slip away or drift away from Him.
Hebrews 2:1
We must, therefore, pay even more attention to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.
God will always love you, but He will not conform to how you choose to live your life.
Hebrews 2:2
For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment.
If the angels declared this message themselves, how much more important is this statement when delivered by Jesus?
Hebrews 2:3
…how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.
Acts 28:27
For the hearts of these people
have grown callous,
their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
understand with their heart,
and be converted,
and I would heal them.
Psalm 101:4-5
4 A devious heart will be far from me;
I will not be involved with evil.
5 I will destroy anyone
who secretly slanders his neighbor;
I cannot tolerate anyone
with haughty eyes or an arrogant heart.
A believer needs to guard his heart in order to not become insensitive to the things of God.
There’s no sin that is too great that God cannot cover through His grace. The choice for the person involved is to acknowledge the need for God’s forgiveness and accept His grace.
Salvation comes from The Lord. It has value and should be readily acknowledged.
Hebrews 2:3-4
3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. 4 At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various miracles, and distributions of gifts from the Holy Spirit according to His will.
Salvation is God’s work in you. To admit that you are saved but fail to administer the fruits of salvation is to deny or neglect His great salvation. The testimony of your life will show that you are living in a righteous manner.
This truth is confirmed to us by those who heard Him. God also testified to this truth through His signs and wonders. The signs were not to prove truth. They were confirmation of God’s divine presence, and they were given to show God at work to the person who witnessed it.
Don’t neglect the works of God and the power of His salvation in your life. He is worthy of your attention to His work in your life. Thank Him for keeping you away from destruction and for bringing you unto Himself.
Akron Alliance Fellowship 