Get Up And Change the Channel!

Change: To become or make different, to alter.

The Bible tells us clearly that faith without works is dead. On this journey of life, we have to put in work. We can’t just sit in our easy chair, press a button, and the channel (or life situation) that we no longer want to watch (or be in) simply changes. No, on this journey there are no remote controls, we have to get up and change the channel in our life situations that we no longer want to watch.

Let’s take a look at Caleb. In Joshua 14:7 & 9, Caleb tells us how Moses sent him  to spy out the land when he was forty years old. It was then that he brought Moses the word that was in his heart. “…Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God.” But come verse 10, we see that forty-five years had passed and Caleb was still on that same channel – waiting for his land. Although the land was promised to him, he had to take action to get it – he had to slay the giants that were inhabiting it. How many of us are just waiting for the giants (or obstacles) in our lives to just walk away instead of standing on the word of God to slay them?

Eventually, Caleb got up, with the help of the Lord and changed his channel (situation). He went to war and moved the giants out of the land and possessed the mountain that was promised to him. If he had not gotten up and changed things, the giants would have continued to possess the land and he would have missed out on his promise. Friends, there are no remotes in life - we have to get up and do the work to change the channel.

In Mark 10:46-48, we are reminded of the story of blind Bartimaeus, “And they came to Jericho and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out,and say, Jesus thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” Don’t you know that people will try to make you sit in your easy chair and just watch the same channel, day in and day out? Be like Bartimaeus – understand when it’s time to change your channel – get up and call on Jesus. Lord-willing, that call will be answered and Jesus will stand still for us and help us change our channel.

The Bible doesn't say that Bartimaeus was a noble man, and it doesn't say that he had spent time fasting and praying. What the Word does show us is that Bartimaeus had enough faith in God to attempt to change the channel. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s a great and awesome thing to have a prayer life and to spend time fasting. The point I’m trying to make is that you can start right where you are, right now! You don’t have to be the perfect Christian to change the channels in your life that you are tired of watching. Jesus loves us and He wants to help us. Remember, there are no remotes in life; you have to get up and change the channel!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen… and AMEN!