Your Spiritual Journey
Be Real
Have you ever been told to “be real”? Maybe you were projecting some kind of desire for how you want things to be, but really aren’t, and someone called you on it. It can be a bit jarring to be confronted in that way, but it can also open the door to a lot of healing when we’re forced to identify reality. More than once God called on his people to “be real” with their situation. I think of God’s condemnation on Israel through Amos when He told them to “seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, as you say he is.” (Amos 5:14). They’re already claiming that God is with them, but He isn’t. Instead if they would turn and seek what is good they would regain that presence and favor. Or better known is Jeremiah’s proclamation, “They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace’, they say, when there is no peace.” (Jer. 6:14). God is calling people to “get real” with their sinful state.
But it’s not always negative. Plenty of times in the New Testament, Christians are called to more fully realize their current status as saved children of God! Paul after listing a variety of types of evil-doers says, “And that is what some of you were. But you’ve been washed, you’ve been sanctified, you’ve been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6:11). Or consider John’s powerful declaration, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). Sometimes “being real” means accepting the reality of your salvation and special status! That is your true identity, and to live otherwise is to deny what is true!
Hopefully we can find this balance in life. To be aware enough to recognize our sin and never sugar-coat it; all while trusting in our new reality as baptized believers. Either way, I pray we could be real.
Blessings,
Houston
