1) If we listed all the things we do tomorrow, would our list of tasks include the item found in Lk. 1:75?
2) It is God’s will that people “serve” Him (Verse 74).
3) The additional detail in verse 75 might cause some people to sit up and take notice.
4) How often does God want us to “serve” Him? ALL OUR DAYS is what we find in Lk. 1:75.
5) We find this same idea as early as Deut. 6.
6) Deut. 6:1 refers to the time when Israel would arrive in the Promised Land.
7) Deut. 6:2 is the verse we want – READ
a) God told the Hebrews to keep “all His laws” ALL the days of their lives.
b) For the Hebrew people, religion was a lifetime commitment.
8) God says there is to be a religious commitment to Him that lasts for our entire life.
9) Every single day we are to think about God and our commitment to Him.
10) Is this how we approach life?
11) Someone might think that is a lot to ask.
12) Someone might even say: “If I do this, what is in the deal for me?”
13) God promised to help and bless His people, Deut. 6:3.
14) God’s will for Christians is expressed quite well in our next reference, Eph. 1:4.
a) Paul said God did some “choosing” before the world was created.
15) God did “choose,” but he chose a “class” of people, not individuals.
16) Those who fall into the class of the obedient and the righteous will be saved.
17) Those who decide to disobey will be put into a class that God has chosen for condemnation.
a) God wants people to be “holy and blemish” before Him.
b) We know from Lk. 1 that this is God’s will for our lives every single day.
18) Some things in life take almost no work.
19) Other things in life take a long, long time.
a) How long will it take for a person to become “holy and without blemish”?
b) For people to do well at living the Christian life, they need daily practice.
c) Christians need to daily follow the instructions in the Bible to be the type of people God wants.
20) If we try to serve God all our days we will be “holy and without blemish.”
21) If we do not act in this way “all our days” we will unholy and fully of blemishes.
a) Eph. 4:24 – READ
b) God also allows us to have a “new life.”
FOR US TO RECEIVE THIS “CLEAN SLATE” WE MUST BE WILLING TO “WALK” BEFORE THE GOD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.
a) In the Old Testament Abraham was told to “walk before God” (Gen. 17:1).
b) More than 150 times in the Old Testament we read about “walking” before and with God.
c) This concept is also found in the New Testament.
2) Jn. 8:12 says the followers of Christ do not WALK in darkness.
a) For all of our days we need to strive to walk in the light.
b) Rom. 6:4 says the saved “walk in the newness of life.”
c) Every single day we should try to walk in the newness of life.
3) Many think they will find and serve God in their latter years.
4) This is not God’s message to us: Walk before Him with “all our days.”
5) We start out in the right way very early in life and we continue in that way.
6) If we miss out on the early years, we get on this road as quick as we can in our later years.