Many years ago, I heard a preacher tell a story of a man who lived in Texas and drank all the time. He was married to a lady that was a Christian. He was big, burly, ignorant of bible, and stubborn. No matter what his wife said to him he just did not want anything to do with church and loved his liquor. His name was Leon. The two had been married for many years during which she was constantly on him about attending church with her. She wanted him to go to church so “the preacher could save him.” Finally, she told him, “If you don’t go to church with me tonight, I’m leaving, I’m quitting you.” He looked at her and said something I thought was funny at the time. “Alright, alright, I’ll go to church with you tonight but when we’re done I’m going to drink two bottles of whiskey.” Well, Leon came to the church with his wife that night. The preacher preached “Crucifying the Old Man.” During the message Leon was under great conviction. At the invitation he stepped out and down the aisle he came. The preacher asked, “Do you want to be saved?” Leon replied, “I don’t know about that saved stuff, but I want to have that old man crucified.” Leon was led to Christ. After being saved, he looked at the preacher and said, “I’m saved, now what am I supposed to do? I want to be a good one.” The preacher said, “Well, once you are saved you ought to be baptized.” “I’ll do it,” Leon said, “I want to be a good one.” The next Sunday, Leon was baptized. After coming up out of the water he looked at the preacher and said, “I’m saved, now baptized, what do I need to do next? I want to be a good one.” The preacher told him, “You need to be faithful to the church house and you need to start giving a tenth (1/10) of your income to the Lord.” Leon got a strange look on his face. “Preacher, I got saved and baptized. I know what that means. I know I can come to church, but I don’t know what a tenth is. I have two 1/5s in the car he can have if he wants them.” I love that story. One of my favorite parts is when Leon said, “What do I need to do next? I want to be a good one.” Do you have that heart? Is that what you want to be, a good one? What is meant by a “good one” is simply do you want to be a good Christian.

Five Stars? If you go to a website, almost any website, you will find reviews. The quality of the company is identified by the stars they receive from customers. Well, the Christian life also has some basic benchmarks. These are the elementary things that we should have learned and committed to early in our journey with the Lord. The five things I will mention briefly are things that anyone that names the name of Christ, a Christian, should know as the beginnings of that life. These are things we can do if we “want to be a good one.” Of course, any of these five could be done with a wrong motive leading us into a life of being a hypocrite. Let’s do these five with a heart that is motivated by our love for Christ.

  1. Reading our Bible regularly is first on my list. Why? It is the very Word of God. It is what God wants us to know.
  2. We are to do it without ceasing. Keep short accounts with God. Talk to Him multiple times during the day. Remember, you have access because you are a Christian. Jesus’ flesh was the veil that was torn so we could talk to the Lord anytime.
  3. Church Attendance. Regularly. What does that mean? It means when the church doors are open we ought to desire to be there. Check out Hebrews 10:25. The writer of Hebrews puts the pressure on us. He says, “So much the more as you see the day approaching.” As the coming of Jesus gets nearer, the church ought to be more special.
  4. Isn’t knowing that you have eternal life a blessing? It is for me. Just knowing that I have the promise of Heaven because I trusted Christ and became a follower. Our lives have a peace and we are blessed beyond measure. Why would we not want to share that with others? If we love others, we want them to be with us in Heaven, don’t we? Let’s talk to others about Jesus.
  5. Giving is always a result of a grateful heart. Being a faithful tither and giver of offerings does something for the soul. Just knowing that you are being obedient to the Word of God is satisfying.

These beginning steps should be evident in the life of anyone that has been saved for even a short amount of time. Not having these in our life reveals a huge spiritual problem. Time and age often limit us in certain ways. But for the Christian, he or she is constantly looking for ways to exhibit each of these stars in their walk. So, do you really want to be a good one? I hope you do. Let’s have the heart of old Leon. Let’s be “good ones.”