Have you ever seen a person that you lost contact with over the years and when you see them they don’t look the same, so you say “Girl, is that you?” You run into a guy you went to school with years ago and you look at them and say, “Man, is that you?” Well, many times in our Christian walk, God is asking the same thing. Not because of a physical change but because you don’t act, talk, walk or look like the Christian you portray on Sunday mornings. You know how you are so nice to your church members but then curse your husband out on the way home because he wasn’t moving fast enough for you or how you’re so helpful to your choir members when they call but your sister can’t even get you to drop her off at work. God is asking, “Is that you?” I’m asking the same question because you know how folks act one way around certain folks and then another when those folks are gone, God isn’t pleased. How can you be the minister of music on Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon and choir practice on Thursday but yet still in the club on Saturday when they make the last call for alcohol. No, God is not pleased. You have to be the person that God destined you to be no matter where you are because if God has to ask, is that you, then your walk isn’t pleasing to him.
There was a story about this woman who was driving erratically, throwing finger signs, cursing at other cars when she drove by and having a full effect of road rage. Well when she passed this police officer he pulled her over and took her to jail. After a few hours, he came to release her and she asked him why was she arrested in the first place and he said, “Well I saw this car that had all kinds on Christian bumper stickers over the back of it with your bible in the back window and then I saw you acting all crazy and cursing, so I just assumed you had stolen it.” See, Christians should act like Christians every day, no matter where you are because you never know whose watching you. I’ve said this many times before but I’ll throw it in again, the closest most sinners get to God is through a Christian but how can you save somebody else when you pull your Christianity off like socks? You can’t be Holy on Sunday and Hellish on Monday because God doesn’t work that way. Either you’re a full time Christian or you’re not! Now, I’m not saying that you’ll be perfect all the time because you are entitled to make a mistake that’s why we have repentance but if you live in the world all week and then do the Christian bounce on Sunday; God is asking, “Is that you?”
You’re ashamed for your boys to know that you know the Lord so you act like a thug in the streets, on Saturdays, with your pants hanging low, smoking, drinking and cussing and then you stand up in church on Sunday morning leading the devotion but God says in Luke 9:26, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” See, you want to play hard Monday through Saturday and then play the Christian on Sunday but God is not pleased. You hang out with your girls when they are shoplifting in the mall and stealing from folks but you don’t open your mouth to tell them they are wrong and even if you never steal one shirt, you’re still guilty by association. You can’t dabble in the world and in the word and expect God to know who you are because when you have 2 things pulling you, one will eventually win. Why do you think God says you cannot serve me and man ( Matthew 6:24)? Why don’t you invite your boys to church in order for them to see the goodness God has instead of inviting them to hang out? Why don’t you pass around the bible instead of a blunt and offer them God’s way instead alcohol? Why don’t you tell your friends that you can’t hang out all day Saturday because you have church on Sunday instead of acting like you’re not a Christian? The bible says in Matthew 10:33, “But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.” Don’t you know that it is up to Christians to save the sinners and not the Pastors of the church? I, as being a Christian, am responsible for bringing lost souls to Christ and it is the Pastor’s responsibility to try to keep them walking the right way by teaching them God’s word but I can’t do my job if I am not looking like the Christian I am supposed to be.
When you ride in your car with all that Hell in you, God is asking, “Is that you?” When you’re lying, backbiting and stabbing friends in the back, God is asking, “Is that you?” When you’re sleeping with other folks husbands or wives and you got your own at home, God is asking, “Is that you?” When you wear the skirts so short on Saturday that allows the world to see your insides when you bend over and then a skirt so long you keep tripping over it on Sunday, God is asking, “Is that you?” You do the worldly dance all night in the clubs and then come to worship service and shout all over the altar, God isn’t pleased. Why? Because you’re messy! God has given you the gift of life so you are supposed to live but live the Christian way. This is why you have to be the same when you’re in your blessing season and during your stormy season. God doesn’t need fake folks that are full of fluff but he needs real righteous respectable folks that are willing workers! See, Matthew 25:29 says “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.” God gives you blessing and how you use those blessings determine if you should get more but if you take the blessings from the job that God has blessed you with for worldly mess, then why should God continue to give you an increase? You’re a Christian but you don’t believe in tithing. You’re a Christian but then you sit around in the barber and beauty shops spreading rumors/gossip about Pastor So & So. You’re a Christian only when it’s convenient to you.
God has himself to you which then gives you joy and having this joy gives you strength to do all and be all that you want to be, so why are you so mean? Now, I can understand having a stressful day and you not wanting to be bothered, but being mean from the time you wake up until the time you go back to sleep is not right. If you’ve accepted God into your life then you should have joy and with joy comes peace and with God’s peace it surpasses all of your understanding. Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” You know how you get a call about a job that you haven’t even applied for and you’re trying to figure out how, it’s God’s peace that surpasses your understanding. You’re still trying to figure out how you got approved for the car you wanted when 3 other folks had turned you down, but that’s God’s peace that surpasses your understanding. You’re still worried about the cancer the doctor found in your breast only to go back to find out the tumor is gone, that’s God’s peace that surpasses your understanding. God will do his part but you have to do yours. Don’t make God ask, “Is that you?” Be the Christian man or woman God as made you. Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” He didn’t make you to be full of hell all your life but he made you to have joy in your heart, a smile on your face and love to share. Don’t make God question who you are based on your actions. Live a life that is pleasing to God so that he recognizes you every time he hears your voice.
Lakisha, the Author 