Our world is changing rapidly around us. Some would say that it is for the better. Some would argue that we are getting worse not better. We have all noticed things that have and are changing.
The way children speaking to their parents and elders
Programs on prime time tv
Content in our movies
Top 10 books
Our lifestyles – looking for more comfort.
Our worlds motto is fast becoming, as so eloquently put by Jakob Poirer, of Canada’s Worst Driver “I do what I want. If I want to learn, I will learn, and if I don’t I’ll flip you the bird.” We are becoming a society that simply does what it wants, when it wants. The bible puts it a different way “the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” Judges 17:6 And with all that is going on around us how do we manage to live a life pleasing to God? I think there are a few things we need to do.
1. Recognize that Christianity is not about perfection.
To many of us Christians are struggling to “be perfect”. We heard someone teach and use the scripture “Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect” and we try to govern our lives and live a life full of rules and obligations that we feel will make us perfect some how. We put on a good face for other Christians hoping beyond hope that they won’t see through our thin veneer of perfection to the total disaster we are living. We know we aren’t following our “holiness code” and aren’t ‘measuring up’ to what we think God wants for us, and we are hoping that with a little more time and effort maybe tomorrow will be different. This is also why the world thinks we are a bunch of hypocrites. Because we are selling a life that we cannot live ourselves. And it isn’t working. I love what Rick Warren said; “If the horse is dead, dismount.”
Our struggle will never make us acceptable to God. Ever. Only when we truly realize this can the life of God flow in us and bring about the changes that are necessary. This is what Paul was talking about in Romans 7. He fully knew that on his own he could never be what God wanted. It is also how he could say “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” and “Not I that lives, but Christ who lives in me.” Paul understood that no effort of his own could ever make him “perfect”. Only the life of Jesus in him. We are made perfect through the sacrifice of Jesus and only through the sacrifice of Jesus. Time for the church to put down the religious rules and recognize the fact that we cannot attain what we are trying to attain, and stop fighting to get what cannot be got. This was the whole purpose of the law of Moses in the first place. The law was simply there to reveal our inadequacy and our inability to be what God designed us to be on our own. It is also why Jesus came and died. So that through Him we could be who God designed us to be.
2. We need to hear God’s voice.
If we were purposed for something it would stand to reason that we need to hear from the designer what that purpose was. Otherwise we would be buying a coffee maker and trying to use it for a fuel pump and getting very frustrated when it didn’t work very well. It sounds obvious but we try to do the same thing. Christianity is simply a relationship with our Creator and Saviour, simply taking His hand and allowing Him to make us into the very thing He designed and created us to be. Each one of us was made for a purpose. God doesn’t make junk and there are no mistakes in heaven. So we need to hear God so we can learn and fulfill our purpose.
3. We need to picture God’s vision.
Everyone of us is the same. Without vision, we will naturally wander aimlessly and waste our lives on nothing of any significance. And that is not what we were created to do. We all have a purpose and only when we discover it can we focus on it. When we travel it is always good to have a map so we know where we are going, because without one it is very easy to get side tracked by things and lost completely and as a result never end up at our destination. And life is the same way. Without and vision and focus it is easy to get lost completely and never become who we were meant to become. And that doesn’t mean that life is necessarily wasted. What is best in life can most often get completely lost under what is good in life. Only when we have a overshadowing picture of where we are headed can we set aside what is good for what is best and walk away from the distractions and rabbit trails and get to our destination.
4. We need to adopt God’s values.
Christian life cannot be lived out any way we see fit. We cannot pick and choose what we believe and what we don’t believe. And we cannot decide that this religion has good points and that faith has some good points and become an amalgamation of parts of various beliefs. If we are to live a Christian life we need to focus on what God values. A Survey by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life/The Pew Reasearch Center for the People and the Press… a recent survey:
Paranormal Possibilities … The percentage of American adults who say they have supernatural beliefs and experiences…
Have been in touch with the dead
Total adult population – 29%
Christians – 29%
Have seen or been in the presence of God
Total adult population – 18%
Christians – 17%
Have consulted a psychic
Total adult population – 15%
Christians – 14%
Believe in astrology
Total adult population – 25%
Christians – 23%
Believe in reincarnation
Total adult population – 24%
Christians – 22%
Believe in “evil eye,” i.e. the casting of curses
Total adult population – 16%
Christians – 17%
Believe spiritual energy exists in physical things like mountains, trees and crystals
Total adult population – 26%
Christians – 23%
Christianity is about living in a relationship with God and living our lives under His direction and with His values. Christians have gotten themselves so distracted by the life and world going on around us that we have lost sight what is important. Time for us to set aside the rules and regulations, we can’t live up to them anyway, and allow the life of God to invade our hearts and minds and truly become who we were meant to become.
The Blog of Tom Sanders 