An older gentleman who recently came to faith in Christ shared with me his testimony. He had been coming to our church for a short time with his wife and listened to the preaching from the Word of God. As he listened intently to the exposition of the Bible and the explanation of the gospel message it all came together for him. He shared with me that he always felt that he was a Christian. However Jesus wasn’t a regular part of his life. He shared that when some trial or tough time came into his life he would take God off the shelf. When the time of difficulty subsided he would put God back on the shelf and continue with life on his own. His conversion came when He realized that God was not meant to be a God on the shelf but the Lord of his life. Under the conviction of the Holy Spirit he told me that he invited Jesus to be his personal Savior.
I am sure that this man is not the only person who consider themselves a Christian but have not truly been born again. Jesus said some sobering words in Matt. 7:21-23: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”. A person can go to church regularly, claim to be a Christian, and even serve the Lord and still not really know Jesus Christ as their own Savior.
Do you sense that your faith is only an acknowledgement of the facts of the gospel? You can have so much more. Jesus desires to have a personal relationship with you. Don’t be that person whose God is on the shelf. Repent of your sins, call upon Jesus as your Savior. And make Him Lord of your life.