Recently I visited the home of a fellow pastor and his wife. It was like walking into the Gospel: many beautiful Christian paintings and pictures, a Nativity scene, a number of crucifixes, and the gift of hospitality on the part of the pastor and his wife. (There was an egg casserole just coming out of the oven.) God bless them!
But what caught my attention the most was a plaque which read:
Live simply.
Love generously.
Serve faithfully.
Speak truthfully.
Pray daily.
Leave everything else to God.
And that's exactly what they were doing.
I thought about those six things and how each is taught in the Bible. Then I remembered that seven is the complete number, not six. And if I could add just one other thing, what would it be?
Believe firmly.
That is the foundation for the other six. Believe firmly, with all your heart, in God and His Word. Believe firmly that you are a sinner, that you have a Savior, the Lord Jesus, and that He fills your heart with His love.
Sunday was Pentecost: the fiftieth day after Easter, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the birthday of the Church. God gives His Holy Spirit in order for us to believe firmly and then to live a Christian life.
Pastor Al and Traci Espinosa are a good example.
