Expectations

What does God expect of you?

The greatest difference between Christianity and every other religion is probably the level of expectation for people: Christianity is more about what God does, not what we do. Our faith is in a God who does things for us, not a religion about doing things for God. Every other religion will have a long list of expectations: the five pillars of Islam, the 613 laws of the Jews, the pathway to enlightenment, the Dharma wheel of Buddhism, etc. Christianity is about what God has done for us, specifically that he so loved the world that he sent Jesus to save those who believe, John 3:16.

However, that does not mean that God has no expectations.

When you have God living inside you, you become a different person and live for Him. You can tell that a plant is healthy by how it looks on the outside, even though you are not able to see the cells growing or dying inside the plant. Healthy apple trees produce good apples. Healthy Christians produce good works. Those good actions do not impress God, but they are evidence of God working inside a person.

There are some commandments that tell us what not to do, but how do we know what to do?

A painting of Abraham's departure by József Molnár.

Our story for next week is about a guy named Abraham, and he was told by God that he would be a blessing, even though he was not given a lot of specifics on how he was going to be a blessing to people. Later it even says that he would be a blessing to all nations!

Genesis 12:2New International Version (NIV)

2 “I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.

Now, if you were Abraham and given the expectation of being a blessing, what would you do? Maybe you would study on how to be friendly and a good friend. Maybe you would try making something that would help other people out. Maybe you would go to school to become a doctor or nurse or someone who really focuses on helping people. It would be hard to know what God meant and what you would need to do to be a blessing to others.

But I think the biggest thing that you would need to do would be to trust God. Abraham was told he would be a blessing to all people, and the way that he accomplished that was by being the ancestor of the Savior of the world, Jesus! Jesus was a direct descendant of Abraham, and was the blessing that the world needed more than anything else. Abraham would not have been able to accomplish this on his own, but he did trust in God, and God blessed him because of it.

God wants to use you, too. You will be blessed, and you will be a blessing to other people. It might not be clear exactly how this will happen, but when you are spending time with Jesus and looking to him for help, he will let you know what you need to do and when you should do it.

What does God expect of you?

He expects that you trust Him!