Fun fact: Jesus sent people away and told them to quit following Him.
Why?
They had the wrong motivations. In John 6:26, there is the account of when Jesus turned away a whole mass of would-be followers, because He knew they were just there for the free food.
So, what’s the conclusion here?
Don’t go to church if you just want to take advantage of the free cookies they have after service? Yeah, that, but there’s more. There are plenty of other reasons beyond just that which should NOT be your reason for following Jesus, believing in God, joining a church, etc.
Don’t follow Jesus if you think it’s going to make you rich.
If you think God is just there to bless you financially, He’s not. Will He bless you? Sure. But let’s put this in context with 1 Tim 6:10 and Matthew 19:23-24.
Don’t believe in God if you think He’s just going to make your life easy all the time…
He’s not. See 2 Tim 3:12, where the Bible reminds us that anyone who wants to pursue a godly life is going to be persecuted…not by God, but by the world, who hates God.
Don’t tag along with the church if you’re just there to get an emotional experience that doesn’t change the way you live.
In John 4:23-24, the reader sees that God desires those who will worship Him in spirit AND in truth. That means that our HEARTS have to be in it. We can’t just be going through the motions because we want to get some cheap pseudo-spiritual “high” out of swaying to the music. And emotional experience or not:
Don’t believe if you’re not willing to let God change your life for the better.
Matthew 13:20-21 talks about the parable of the sower, and the seed that fell on the rocky ground. This is a picture of someone who came to Jesus excited at first but never put down a proverbial root in Him to make Him the center of his or her life. God wants to change your life and be your everything, your first priority, your bread of life.
Don’t believe if you have no good reason to believe!
In fact…don’t believe ANYTHING if you don’t have reason to do so: Test all things (1 Thess 5:21). Have a REASON for your faith (1 Peter 3:15). Be like the Berean skeptics who analyzed everything before accepting it (Acts 17:11).
So…why SHOULD you believe in God?
Because the evidence is there to support it…we have a ton of videos and even a book on this.
Remember:
- God is good
- God is sovereign
- God loves you and gave you everything
And these are all EXCELLENT reasons to believe in God, His goodness, and His salvific abilities.
