Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14).  All Christians should want to be friends with God. But how good of a friend are we when we sin and grieve the Holy Spirit? Despite what some Christians are led to believe, we all still sin, because, though we are saved and heaven-bound, we still have an old, mean nature inherited from Adam. Paul advised us not to grieve or quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

This is a problem, and the question is what to do about it. So many Christians are disobedient to Christ out of ignorance, but there is a simple solution for ignorance: study of God’s Word. The Bible makes very clear what the Lord wants us to do in order to live the way we should.

The problem with Christians today is their lack of knowledge due to lack of Bible study. In fact, many Christians do not read their Bibles at all. What a shame that is! I constantly preach on this topic and exhort my congregants to at least read a little of their Bibles every day. I tell them to make time for it. Everyone does whatever he really wants to do.

Another problem with Christians is that we say we want to be God’s friend, but we fail to pray enough. It has been reported that the average Christian only prays three minutes a day and preachers only pray seven. Three or seven minutes is hardly enough time to thank and praise God, much less to give Him the glory He alone deserves. God is our heavenly Father; He wants to hear from His children. We all need to keep in touch with Him through daily or, preferably, constant prayer. The Apostle Paul advised the Thessalonians to, “Pray without ceasing”(1 Thessalonians 5:17). 

I urge everyone who calls himself a Christian to start acting like one. Unbelievers desperately need for Christians to both be and appear different. They need to see us pray over our meals and make reference to Jesus in our conversations. Paul stated, in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” Our problem today is that we are ashamed to speak the wonderful name of Jesus or God in public.

The problem is timidity. Christians are now afraid to look different and speak of Christ in public. We are afraid to look different because our society is now so secular. Today, God no longer has any place in the lives of most people.

I believe that a lot of bad things we are witnessing are God’s judgment on us. Our society has become exceedingly decadent, even to the point of godlessness. I also believe that one of the chief reasons for our social decline is simple lack of church attendance. When 80 percent of people never attend any church regularly, what can we expect?

Those who do attend legitimate churches not only have their faith in God booster through fellowship with other believers, they also hear the Word of God proclaimed. Truth proclaimed has a very positive effect on human character.

How I pity those able to attend church but choose to stay away. They are such easy prey for the enemy, Satan. Television, the Internet, and cell phones are wonderful devices when used properly. But you can bet Satan makes full use of them to drag down human character and literally destroy people.

So, I pray that more people, especially Christians, will “see the light” and give church, the Bible, and prayer a chance in their lives. Maybe that way we can influence a few people to consider calling on the Lord for salvation. Otherwise, we must not expect to see them in Heaven.