These thoughts are all much more connected which does add to the logic behind the split.
Something I have noticed for the last few years in myself & in many people that I have around me is sin. We all sin, no doubt about it but I believe there is a difference between sinning as an isolated incident & sinning as a lifestyle. It is also my belief that to sin as a lifestyle ruins the relationship with God, it's idolatry in a sense & can encompass many sins within the idolatry. But we cannot have a divided heart, two masters. All for Jesus or none.
Yet I have this old nature that yearns so fiercely towards sin. Satan plays on those desires certainly but control of my self is by myself. I see it in others also of course. Having sex, getting drunk, cursing with His name, lying & so many other kinds of offenses while still bearing the name of the savior. It's ridiculous. But how does this blind spot form? It's not something I've been able to reconcile yet but I think about it. The specific question, "how can someone consider themselves a Christian, a follower of Jesus, yet go against His teachings?"
Maybe I don't have the life experience to ever understand it. But even in the darkest of times, when I think God is no where to be found or when I don't want to have anything to do with Him I don't do any of the things that so many of the "christians" I come in contact with on a daily basis do. & they boast in there sin. No same, no remorse, but delight. I resist God & don't sin that way. It doesn't make sense to me. That's the second thought but the answer I've arrived at is the knowledge of God. not classroom study from a book, but knowledge like the prophets or leaders of old had. In the quiet & in the raging mountain knowing God personally. But can it really be that simple? That the churched who live in such a way have an academic, at best, knowledge of the Holy One? Obviously there are factors in each persons life which will differ & I am very much generalizing but it seems to me that the point is valid anyway. (which is a good thing since I'm the thinker & the writer) A true knowledge of God never fades. Which brings me to the third thought.
An analogy is used of God being the potter & we are the clay. As a potter molds a pot sometimes it falls apart & he starts over or he may just give up. Well God never gives up on us but there are a sad many people who choose repeatedly to fall apart during His molding process. But if the clay is strong then a beautiful thing will result. Possibly ornate or possibly very simple but each pot is made for a use. In any case, God gets his hands dirty in the molding process & that process ingrains the true knowledge of God. That knowledge will never fade, never fail, even when doubt or run away. The true knowledge is worked into us as the water is worked into the clay & He knows what He is doing. He is making us in vessels for His use.
I really don't like using certain passages of the scripture because there is too much chance for misinterpretation but these verses came to mind & work very well I think to prove what I am saying:
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
2 Corinthians 4:6 - 10
So it's a precious thing that is available to us & seriously hope that more people come to this knowledge of Jesus. For without it there really isn't anything worth living for.
So those are some of the thoughts I've been having over the last few days. I hope it all made sense!
Thanks for reading
No comments:
Post a Comment