Pretenders

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Romans 8:28 says, “ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

     As a kid, I would like to pretend certain things.  I had an imaginary horse, an imaginary airplane and an imaginary car.  I could go anywhere with all of my imaginary devices.  I could zoom around the back yard, flying low over the corn fields and just generally had a lot of fun.  It is easy to pretend and sometimes it carries on into one's adult life. We can go on pretending that we are something that we are really not and we can get away with it for a time, but then there will come that time when the truth will be made visible and it is called judgment.

     The above passage is a famous one that believers often use when they just can’t figure out what God is doing in their lives.  We often can’t see why certain things keep happening to us and often wonder what God is trying to say to us.  When we can’t see what’s to be the lesson or how it is going to work out, we just quote the above passage and wait and see how it is going to turn out.  We are confident that it will turn out for the best because it says so right in the beginning of the passage.  All things work together for good.  We love that part of the passage because that means that even the bad stuff is going to end up being good in some way or another.  There is, however, a conditional clause that follows where it says, “...them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”   Right  in the beginning is t hat phrase “who love God.”  This is where we determine who is real and who is a pretender.  There are a lot of “pretenders” in the church.  I was one for thirteen years.  I went to church faithfully, knew the right words to say at the right  time, could sing the songs, teach the classes and everything looked good from the outside.  But, I was a pretender.  Had I died during that time in my life, I would have been sent to hell and there would be no pretending there.  If everything that happens in  your life is going to turn out for the good, then you had better be sure that you love God with all your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength. Then, you will be sure that everything will work out for the good no matter how bad it gets and no matter how much it hurts.  You will end up on the plus side for God and t hat is the best place to be.  When life is over, you won’t be going to an imaginary heaven or an imaginary hell.  They are real destinies.  Praise God for His wonderful plan of salvation through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.