Rest Assured: You Can!

There are some people who are turned off of Christianity because all they hear about are things that they can’t do. A lot of the time, Christians mostly focus on the things that you shouldn’t do – and I am guilty of this as well. A lot of the time I may see something that someone has written, an article or blog post, and repost it because I believe it is something that needs to be read by many people. Ignorance is never an excuse and I never want to be held accountable for something because I didn’t pass the word along to someone when I knew that I could have.

However, I want to take the time right now not to focus on things that you can’t do in your Christian life, but things that you can do.

Maybe you never realized this but Christianity is more about what you can do over what you can’t do, although the two go hand in hand most of the time. The blood of Christ frees us from the bondage of sin and gives us freedom under the law of Christ! Christianity is not supposed to be a burden on us and the law of Christ is not supposed to be grievous {Matthew 11:30; 1 John 5:3}. It’s not so much about what you can’t or shouldn’t do, but what you can and should do.

So what can you do?

Well, for starters, you can cast all your cares upon Christ. As Christians, you have the privilege to carry all of your burdens to Christ and letting Him take care of it for you. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you.” The way I read that doesn’t just mean that Christ cares about you, but that when you cast your care upon Him, He takes care of it for you. He cares for you so that you don’t have to do it.

By doing so, you can have peace of mind! Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Be careful for nothing could be translated as, “Don’t worry!” – achieved by casting all our cares upon Christ! And then? We can have peace! The peace of God, which surpasses all that we can ever understand will keep our minds and hearts! We can be at peace with whatever we are going through because God grants us this peace when we hand things over to Him. Sometimes it feels like everyone around us has too many worries to count, and wouldn’t it just be nice to be able to not worry? To have a peace of mind for once? Well in Christ, you can!

Also, you can have hope in eternity! Isn’t that what drives us, as Christians? Knowing that in the end, when this life is over and we have won the victory, we still have hope in heaven and in heaven we will be with Christ Jesus our Lord! Those who do not obey God and who do not know His love do not have this hope {Ephesians 2:12}, but as Christians, you do have this hope and it makes all the difference in this life. What makes our trials and temptations bearable? Knowing that “this world is not my home”. We are sojourners in this life, merely here on earth for a time and later we will go home to be with God the Father in eternity, in heaven where Christ is preparing a place for us! “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” {John 14:2-3}

{How can you? I was in the midst of writing this when Amanda posted this wonderful blog post that fits right in with this point. Take the time and go over to her blog to check out what she has to say on the matter!}

What you can do as a Christian is much more important that what you can’t do, though it does not negate the need to obey God’s commandments concerning all things. You can’t do any of the above if you don’t obey, but when you do obey, you can rest assured that you can be blessed.

Christianity is not a religion, it’s a relationship, and when you are in the right relationship with God and with Christ, then you can enjoy the bountiful blessings that can only be found within Christ Jesus our Lord {Ephesians 1:3}.