Day 2316 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.
1 John 3:20 NIV
I love it when you read something in the Bible and wake up the next morning still thinking about it. This one got me last night, and it fits with everything we've been talking about lately. There is no arguing with God. There's no debating what's really right and what's really wrong. There is no wiggle room, no room for compromise, no middle ground. He has the final say, and nothing we do can ever change that. So many try in vain to ignore or avoid that truth, but as I've been saying, the truth is simply unavoidable.
I know that we all like to think that we know best. We convince ourselves that our selfish wants and ideas are just fine because they bring us joy and excitement. We get it in our minds that we can do anything we want because the world tells us we can. And we look around and see millions of others doing as they wish and that adds to the evidence that convinces us that we're free to live carefree and not have to worry about responsibility or consequences. That ride is fun for a bit, but eventually, that pesky ol' conscience gets in the way of our selfishness and forces us to do some soul searching.
God gives us the ability to discern between right and wrong to help us steer away from the rampant sin around us. Now we can try to avoid it. We can try to turn it off. We can tune it out. We can go right on doing as our deceitful hearts desire. But at some point, we're just not able to ignore it anymore. That small voice that speaks up inside every time that we do something wrong is there for a reason. It's not to make us constantly feel shame. It's there to remind us that we're made for more than the sins we've been settling for. It's there to tell us to knock of the foolishness and make better choices because no matter how much we argue, there are consequences to our choices and actions that are inescapable.
When our hearts tell us that we're doing something wrong, that's just a reminder that God is bigger than us. It's a reminder that we can't argue with what He says is right and wrong. His way's are better than ours. His calling is more important than what we think we want. His commandments are more meaningful than trying to make up our own rules as we go. Living only for ourselves may seem limitless. It may be fun and exciting for a time. But that time is limited, and the fun and excitement are fleeting. They bring with them this impending doom as we approach the truth that we've tried so hard to tell ourselves we could avoid.
Look, as we talked about yesterday, we've all messed up. But there's no hiding it. There's no avoiding the cost of our mistakes. There's no getting out of having to admit what we've done. God already knows! He knows that we've learned so many lessons from the wrong teacher. He knows that our minds are prone to wander and sin if we're not constantly striving to do better and stay focused on Him. He knows that we've been conformed to the ways of this broken world. That's why He gives us the opportunity to be born again! It's so that we can shed the old lives that we lived according to the lies of sin and live for something more than that.
Each of us know the difference between right and wrong. We can say we don't. We can claim ignorance. But our hearts will always help us remember that God is greater and that His truth really is the only right way. Don't try to turn off or tune out something that's meant to help you be a better person and live a better life. It might pull us away from the selfish and sinful way that we've been used to living. But it will also save us from the suffering that a life of unrepentant sin leads to. Listen to that voice telling you that something is wrong and fix it. It's a constant reminder to focus on God instead of what we think is right. He will always know better!
Comments
Post a Comment