Hello, everybody, this is David Ursin with Making Jesus Known evangelistic ministries. Welcome to God Today. I remember when I was a kid, my Dad was a pastor. I was in church every Sunday and every Wednesday. I was in the church not because I wanted to be, but because my Dad was the pastor. I was forced to. I had to. And because my Dad was the pastor, I was trying to be a good kid. I was trying to do the right things. I was trying not to do drugs. I was trying not to sleep around with girls. I was trying not to get drunk. I was trying to be a good kid.
Now, everybody else in my youth group, they were forced to go to church as well. Because they weren’t really trying to be good, they would go to church on Sunday, then they’d go to church on Wednesday. But on Friday and Saturday nights, they would go out and get high, drunk, they’d hook up with the opposite sex. Then go to church on Sundays and say, “Oh, God, please forgive me.” Then go to church again on Sunday and Wednesday because their parents made them too. And because I was trying to be a good kid, it appeared I was on fire for the Lord. The truth is, I was very lukewarm. I was surrounded by people who are very cold. So, because I was lukewarm, and most of the people I was with were cold for the Lord, it appeared that I was on fire.
I deceived not only myself, but I deceived everybody else in my youth group that I was on fire for the Lord. Then one day, I went to Memphis, TN, at a conference. I stayed with some individuals who were my own age and were Christians. Besides that, I had no idea who these guys were, I had never met them before. It was a divine appointment, a divine set-up from Jesus. These guys, these men were on fire for Jesus. They loved to read their Bibles, they loved to pray, they loved to fast, they loved to listen to Christian music. Everything about their lives was all about Jesus.
Now, I had never met anybody who was my own age, who was on fire for Jesus. And because I was lukewarm, and they were on fire, my lukewarmness was revealed to me. And at that point, I had to make a decision. I was either going to follow or Jesus with all of my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Or I was going to be the best person in the world. I would get all the drugs, get all the alcohol, get all the women. I had to make a decision. That decision, my friends, I made to follow Jesus at the age of 19. It’s been about 11 years. And I am asking you right now. Have you fully surrendered your life to Jesus? Because that is what Jesus is after. He is after your whole heart, to have a fully surrendered life to Him. I encourage you, examine your own life and ask yourself, “Have you surrendered your life fully to Jesus? Are you actually on fire for Jesus? Or are you just lukewarm?” That is a good question for everybody to ask themselves. That is 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves and see if you are truly in the faith.”
Thank you, I am David Ursin with Making Jesus Known and God bless you. Thank you for watching.