Thursday, May 30, 2002
When England's Queen Mother died, the British people poured out their affection and respect by lining up for hours to honor her. Her crown was displayed, including the massive, 105-carat diamond - what is known as the Kohinoor Diamond. Actually, Kohinoor means "mountain of light." The story, as I was told it, is that years ago that diamond was given to Queen Victoria by an Indian maharajah when he was a boy. Later, as a grown man, he visited the queen and requested that the diamond be brought from the Tower of London to Buckingham Palace. Kneeling before the queen, he gave it back to her saying, "Your Majesty, I gave you this jewel when I was a child, too young to know what I was doing. I want to give it to you again in the fullness of my strength, with all of my heart and gratitude, now and forever, fully realizing all that I do."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Updated Love."
A childhood commitment, updated and confirmed as an adult. That's important when it comes to your relationship with the King - the King of all kings, that is. It may be that many years ago you made a childhood commitment to Jesus Christ. And a child's commitment to Jesus can be very real. In fact, Jesus didn't say children had to believe with adult-like faith - He said adults need to come to Him with faith like that of a little child.
But there can be two problems with a childhood Christian experience. One is that your life has grown, but your commitment has not. Maybe you're trying to run your grownup life on the strength of something you did with Jesus as a child. But what have you done with Jesus lately? He told us to "take up your cross daily" (Luke 9:23).
Once you begin your relationship with Christ, it's important that you give Him each new day, that you enlarge the sphere of His control daily by giving Him today's temptations -- today's struggles, today's challenges - giving Him today's you, not just settling for a one-time experience you had with Him many years ago as a child. If you're wondering why your relationship with Jesus doesn't seem more real, maybe it's because you've never given Him the grownup you!
The other problem with a childhood Christian experience can be that maybe you never really had your own personal saving transaction with Jesus. You agreed with what you heard - maybe somebody prayed for you - maybe you went through a ritual that you thought gave you Jesus. But listen to Romans 10, beginning with verse 10, our word for today from the Word of God. "It is with your heart (not just your head) that you believe and are justified...everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Now, it could be that somehow in your childhood Christianity, you missed Christ. Maybe today you need to backtrack, step up to the cross where Jesus died for your sins, and really give yourself to Him. And if you have any doubt if you've ever done that, do it for sure today - so you'll know from today on.
It's time to give all that you know about you now to all that you know about Jesus.