“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Imagine looking at a swimming pool filled with people. All of a sudden, you see a small child caught out in the deep end, completely unable to swim and sinking to the bottom. So you start waving your arms and shouting at him, trying to give him some tips on how to make it back to the shallow end of the pool.

Does that make sense? Would anyone in their right mind just stand there and shout while a child is drowning? Absolutely not! Every single rational-thinking person would jump in the water and pull that child to safety.

Left in our sin, we’re exactly like that drowning child. We have no hope of escaping death on our own. And while the world’s religions wave their arms and shout instructions at us for pulling ourselves from death, Jesus is the only one who gets in the water to save us.

Don’t wait for miracles to happen to jump start your faith. It starts with just the slightest itch for a greater purpose in life. Don’t let the Creator of your life pass by because of your unbelief. Have a hard time believing, but want to believe? It’s okay. Make a step in the right direction – listen to a Christian radio station, check out a sermon online, read an inspiring faith based book.

With so much going on in our lives today, the “unwillingness to work” doesn’t appear applicable. If anything, we work way too much. However, being busy versus working on God’s plan for you are two very different things. Are you willing to work on God’s plan for you? There’s more to His plan than just paying the bills. If you strive to work hard using the special talents He gave you, your work will be more effortless and purposeful.

In this passage Jesus is represented by the vine. He says, if you stay close to Him you will receive His nourishment to allow you to produce fruit. How can you remain in Him? Gather some friends on a regular basis and talk about your spiritual walk. Mentor some youth so when they come to you with questions, you rely on the Bible. Seek out and serve in your local food pantry. Above all, be spiritually fruitful!

Salt is used as a preservative to keep food fresh longer. Once it loses its usefulness the salt will get tossed out with yesterday’s trash. It’s difficult to imagine how salt loses its saltiness but in the context of a Christian, it’s easy to see how a Christian loses their flavor. When Christians try to blend in with the world we give away the essence of a Christian. Let’s do our best to keep our flavor!