Making "Your" Faith Your Own

 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”...

 you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.  Matthew 16

                  Growing up in a Christian home or for that matter in a church environment where you are raised going to Sunday School and eventually Youth Groups throughout your formative years, at some point in your life you are going to need to answer the question Jesus asked - "But who do YOU say that I am?" Like the demoniac said to the sons of Sceva, (paraphrased) "I know who your parents are, I know your Youth Group leader, but who are YOU?" Or like the 5 bridesmaids who weren't let into the wedding feast because they were trying to enter in on someone else's oil, the man at the gate said, "Where is YOUR oil?"

               I grew up in a Godly home and asked Jesus into my heart at the age of 5 mainly because I didn't want to go to hell someday or at that age what really scared me was to be left alone when my family raptured. (Home Alone had not yet been released) As I grew into the later high school years and college years where so many kids fall away, Jesus was asking me the question, "Who do YOU say that I am? There are 2 ways out there - the things of God and the things of man. Are you willing to deny self and follow Me or live for self and follow the things of man?" This is what He was asking the disciples, specifically Peter, and this is what He was asking me and this is what He asks everyone who has been immersed in Christianity - is this Your faith or is it someone elses? It's time to decide.

                For me, going to a "Christian" college, it first manifested itself on a Sunday morning. Do I sleep in (go to the church of Reverend Sheets), or get up and go to church? No one would know, others are sleeping in, where should I go, how do I get there...? I know that sounds like a religious activity and no big internal change, but it represented the question, "Who do YOU say that I am?" I needed to decide is this my faith or my parents? For others it might be do I go to that party and drink alcohol or do I date non-christians? There comes a time when we all have to answer that question, "Who do YOU say that I am?", and the answer to that will determine our eternal destiny.