Faith, Witnessing and Service, Anything Else?

Matthew 20:24-28(NKJV)

24And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. 

25But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 

26Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 

27And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—

28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

I love to be able to keep things simple.  It's easier to set goals and stay on task that way.  So I was thinking, if we had to boil our Christian life down to it's bare essentials, what would they be? 

The first and most obvious is a belief that Jesus Christ was God's son, who was crucified and raised from the dead by God  (LOL, let me clarify.  God didn't kill Jesus, He raised him from the dead.  :)  Christ died to pay for our sins so that we could be saved and have eternal life and fellowship with God.

Those of us who believe that have invited Jesus to lead our lives.  Have you done that yet?  If not I would encourage you to do so.  Have a talk with Jesus.  "Dear Jesus….".

But where do we go from here.  I would suggest that faith is the next most important building block.  Scripture speaks of faith and the importance of faith in many places.  Our very salvation depends on our faith in Jesus. 

I do however think faith goes even deeper than that in this case.  I think we are talking a deep and abiding overall faith that God always has our back!  Never any doubt that as long as we put in the effort to maintain and build that relationship with God, He will always give us as much help as we ask for, and usually a little bit more if we will simply get out of the way and let Him.  :)

OK.  What's next?  I think there are two things that could really be combined into one but because Scripture separates them I think we should too.  Those tow things are witnessing and serving others.

Witnessing can take many forms.  From giving our testimony to just witnessing by living Christ like lives.  What exactly is a Christ like life?  Well the Scripture above tells us that Jesus came to serve.  So I guess if we want to lead Christ like lives that includes serving others.

Now what do I mean by that?  Serving can be anything from selling everything you have and becoming a missionary to simply serving on boards in your community that have nothing to do with church but allow you to bring your Christian influence to try and help serve your community and improve peoples lives.

It can be anything from guiding a huge non profit foundation that serves the poor to simply extending a kindness to a stranger on a daily basis.  Touch someone's life in a positive way, even if it is just to get them to smile and make them feel appreciated.  Brighten their lives.  

As I think if I am missing anything I would add one final thing.  Being in the Word consistently and making a conscious effort to build that relationship with God. 

So have faith, purposefully build your relationship with God, witness, and serve!

Not bad.  Four things to focus on.  That makes it easier.  Am I missing anything?