Greetings
Dear Reader,
Recently a
student tried to explain to me how his drug use had nothing to do with his
relationship to God. He explained that
he did it in private and that he never hurt anyone. This young man really wants to follow Christ
and cares about his faith. I asked him
about the person from whom he buys his drugs.
His response was, “That is just a business transaction. God is not involved in that.”
That simple
line of rationalization is one that we all draw somewhere. We compartmentalize our lives to think that
because we view God differently we can do something that is wrong “outside” of
faith and following. The error in this
is that it is not up to us to determine what is secular. There is nothing we do that does not involve
God.
Many years
ago I used to regularly do things that were wrong and I convinced myself that
God would not mind. I rationalized that
I was not hurting anyone and that it was outside of my faith and
following. I was so wrong. I see my Children doing some of these same
things and it makes me weep. I can see
from this distance down the path how deeply deeming something that is wrong
“harmless” erodes the ability to follow Christ.
There are no
issues that are outside of my faith.
Everything I do must be done in light of how it impacts my relationship
with God. I cannot compromise on my
minor responsibilities and think that I am truly following Christ. I cannot imagine for a moment that I am
honoring my commitment to Christ if I am unfaithful in small things. Once I gave my life to Christ I entered into
a journey where there is not a single secular issue.
I grew up
having to compartmentalize things to survive.
It has taken most of my adult life to get to the place where I no longer
need that to feel safe. Tearing down
those walls helps me see just how much I compromised to “feel safe.” Now I must embrace the vast openness in
faith that Christ will lead others as he leads me into seeing that one cannot
section off any part of his being from following.
Wishing you
joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So
Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of
Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new
and old things from his great treasure store."
Posts
Reading this brought to mind our fist parants on this earth Adam and Eve. I'm sure that Eve when she wandered off from Adam's side was not set to go into a defiance act. Her motives more then likely were some what pure, maybe a bit curious. However, no matter what lead her on that path she wander to, it soon became a slippery slope that effected everything in the world from that moment on.
ReplyDeleteHer curiousity some might argue was not a sin, and yet we see where that curiousity has brought this earth. Now had she had the foresight and see what that one little turn took this earth perhaps she would have made a better decision.
Life is filled with decisions. Some of the ones we pick bring us closer in our relationship with God and some we pick divert us on to a road that moves us away. We may think that making no decision is safe but even in making no decision we have made a decision.
I decide in the morning to be nice, i decide to share Gods love to others as He shares with me. I am in a marrital relationship with Him. I cannot think that my actions at anytime of my life don't reflect on Him also. Where as not everything can be deemed sinful, does not mean that it might be harmful to that relationship.
God speaks to us in verious ways. His word, through the realms of nature, all impacting our minds inspiring and encouraging us to continue on the path towards Him. If i in my actions do things that impair His ability to speak to me, through the use of anything, or i do something that harms my body, His temple, it limits His access to speak to me. Therein lies a problem and a slippery slope. Soon one can find their decision has lead them further away.
Rationalization is our way of convicing ourselves that we are okay to do something, when we already know its not.