Matthew 26:47-50 "While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: 'The one i kiss is the man; arrest him.' Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, 'Greeting, Rabbi!' and kissed him. Jesus replied, 'Friend, do what you came for.' Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him."
Some Christians forget Jesus and ultimately just end up walking away from Him. Things get hard, times get tough and God seems far so they throw in the towel. This can be quite troubling to watch, especially if you know the person who is walking away.
Jesus gives warning to this in a parable, which is a story used to explain a theological concept.
Luke 8:5
A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up
The parable here is Luke 8-4-15 and in this part Jesus is speaking about a farmer sowing seeds. The seeds represent the gospel message of Jesus and the way the plant develop after having each seed planted show the condition of the soil. The plant is representative of the person. So the seed which does not grow up or even take root is analogous of a person who chooses to follow Jesus but then just gets hammered by life and throws in the towel.
The soil for your salvation must be solid in order for you, the plant, to grow up big and healthy. The soil must contain the idea that you are a sinner before a just God who has every right to punish you. Instead though he provides amnesty through Jesus Christ whom lived a perfect life on your behalf and dies in your place for your sins. He then rises from the dead 3 days later to give you his perfect life so that you can stand in judgment before a holy God and pass because you have Jesus' perfect life.
A case could be made "If he walks away from the faith he lost his salvation" or "if he walks away he was never really saved." We will not dive into either here today but just leave it at this:
2 Timothy 2:19
....Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,”....
Bottom Line:
What is your motivation for following Jesus? Please do not believe the lies that following Him will make you rich, happy, save you marriage and everything will be great. You may come to God and those things may happen, but more then likely they will not. In fact things may get even harder for you when you become a Christian. The foundation and core motivation for you becoming a Christian must be this: That you are seeking salvation from your sins and God's wrath toward them. With this motivation and a deep seated love for Christ, when troubles you will not want to leave. This is because you would be leaving your salvation and shelter. Hard times will come and no one is saying it will be easy.
