Day 2582 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.


Romans 8:31 NIV

So much of what we've been taught to worry about or focus on simply doesn't matter. The life we've learned to live doesn't necessarily have to be lived that way. Just because the world around us expects us to fall in line and adhere to the status quo doesn't mean that we have to do so. We don't have to live our lives according to the same set of norms that everyone else is living by these days. We're free to do something different.

We've talked for a while now about all sorts of different distractions and common human worries that have plagued each of us in some way at some point. But it boils down to what this verse is reminding us. It doesn't matter who doesn't like us. It doesn't matter how unpopular we are. It doesn't matter the labels that society will place on those who go against the grain and live by a different set of priorities. All of that stuff is simply man-made nonsense designed to keep us focused on these temporal lives on this temporary earth.

The truth is that if we're following God then we're going the right direction. But all too often I think we wind up surprised at just how different His path really is. It's overwhelmingly different from what this place has settled for. And it brings with it plenty of friction and potential stumbling blocks in the form of persecution, judgement, and hatred. But none of that should come as a surprise, and none of it should be enough to pull us back into the fold and away from the Savior who's proven His love for us.

We have to stop thinking so small and being worried about things that won't matter in the end. Building our lives around God's plans and His perfect will is the only right choice. And it doesn't matter who may disagree. If we're living for Him then He's with us. If we're ignoring Him and living for ourselves according to our selfish and sinful desires, then we're separated from Him. That's a personal choice that each of us have to make. But the consequences of getting it wrong are dire!

We can't let fear of hatred or ridicule force us to make the wrong choice. Yes, following Christ will lead us through the wilderness. He will lead us away from everything that everyone else is chasing. He will transform our lives into something that simply doesn't fit, doesn't work, and doesn't belong here. And that will bring opposition because our different way of life will be seen as confrontational and offensive to those who are on the other side of what's right.

So be it! Let the hatred come. Let the judgement pour in from the world around us. It means nothing! As we talked about yesterday, no human being can save us. And no human can condemn us either! That choice is God's and God's alone. The opinions of this world hold no weight in His eyes. So they shouldn't bother us either. If we're all for God then He's all for us. And when He's for us, it simply doesn't matter who doesn't like it or what they may try to do to show just how much they don't like it.

When we’re walking in His light, then it just doesn’t matter how much darkness may surround us. No amount of darkness can stop His light from shining.

Friends, this world wants us to conform to its ways so that it retains this sense of superiority and control over us. It needs that constant validation that what it's doing is okay so that it can continue avoiding the reality of sin and the sting of shame that comes with it. So when we live in such a way that shows how wrong sin is, when we share the truth that confronts comfortable lies, and when we refuse to bend to what the world desires, we're shaking the foundations that our sinful world has built everything upon.

We're going to be seen as enemies in this place when we choose to live for something different. But I'd rather be an enemy of this world than an enemy of the One who created it! So let the world think and do whatever it wants. Nothing can change God's opinions, His truth, or His final and ultimate judgement. That's what we should live for, because that’s all that’s going to matter when all is said and done.

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