Day 2679 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Galatians 5:16 NIV

You know, there are times when I sit down to write these posts and things come out that even catch me by surprise. Every now and then there are things that I keep on thinking about after I’ve shared them. Some have even become things that I think about constantly, even weeks and months after I typed them out. I wrote something in yesterday's post that has left me doing more of my own soul searching than I was doing before. And I think it's something that all of us need to stop and contemplate because I have this feeling it's something really big.

Each of us have un-repented sins in our hearts.

For the most part, we go about our daily lives not thinking too much about the big things in life. We settle into the status quo and find a comfort in squeaking by most days. But when it comes to our faith, we should be seriously uncomfortable being comfortable. We're fooling ourselves if we honestly think we know all we need to know, have all of our problems squared away, and all of our priorities lined out. The fact of the matter is that daily life brings daily choices, and whether we want to admit it or not, we don't get all those choices right.

The biggest problem that faces every single Christian is our hearts. We've learned to crave what this world offers. We've learned to think like this world thinks. We've grown far too accustomed to these earthly lives we're living, and in that comfort we start taking things a little less seriously. We stop paying attention. We stop worrying about getting things right and simply fall into this delightful assumption that we're doing good enough.

But the underlying issue remains the same, and it's something that we will have to grapple with every day that we're here. We're surrounded by sinful things that are made to look incredible. From the shows we watch to the music we listen to and even the conversations we have or overhear, there is a non-stop onslaught of information and things vying for our attention. And the unfortunate reality is that sin is right there either in the midst of the things surrounding us, or right on the very edge just waiting for the chance to get inside.

None of us are immune to sin. We are a fallen creation living in a fallen world where things like morals and responsibility and respect are shamefully unpopular and uncommon. And like it or not, our hearts have learned to beat in tune with this social landscape that we now find ourselves in. Our hearts have learned to desire things that are contrary to God’s desires for us. We crave things like power and control and wealth, but those things all focus on us and our comfort in this world, and that is simply not where our focus should ever be.

We’ve all lived so long existing only to satisfy our deceitful hearts that we don’t know any other way. We don’t know what full surrender is really like. We don’t know how to seek what we need because what we want is so much more fun to think about. We don’t want to worry about eternity or even next week because there are things we feel the need to focus on today. And so we always pull back from fully setting out in pursuit of God’s will because deep down we know that His path doesn’t lead to everything that we want or have learned to think are important.

This world has settled for following the wants of their fallen hearts and will not listen to the warnings we've been given against such a way of life. So many have fallen so deeply in love with this idea of following their heart that they can't even stop to consider why it is that their hearts want what they want. They just know they want it, and that's all that matters. Things like what the very next verse in Galatians tells us aren't considered anymore. "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want."

We are not to do whatever we want because what we want is against what God wants for us because our hearts have been separated from Him because of the sin into which we’re born and grow to find enjoyable. Our hearts are instinctively set on us and what we want, and they have no room for God until we decide to die to self and live for more than the glitter and gold that has captivated us for so long.

What I'm trying to say is that God didn't create us to be what we've become. He didn't design the world to be this place of division and hatred and violence and unrest and immorality. But here we are, and we're here because humans have always had it in their minds to follow their hearts toward what they want rather than allowing God to be the One in control. And He didn't create us to be the people who have foolishly ignored Him and chased after our selfish desires. But again, here we are.

And friends, if we settle for staying put and not taking the time to consider where we are and where we want to go, what we’re doing and what we need to change to do better, then the sins that are still in our lives will remain there. And as long as they remain there, we'll remain apart from God. All because we'd rather remain oblivious to the truth than to have to face it and endure the harsh and humbling reality that it brings with it.

We have long been a broken people living in a broken world, and while that was okay for a time, that time has gone. As the world continues along its path of wicked want and delightful deception, we each have a choice to follow the herd or bail out before the impending crash. We have been warned. We have Scripture there telling us what awaits those who ignore God and follow their hearts that only lead away from Him. We have the Holy Spirit crying out trying to pull us back from the brink of getting everything we want only to find that it was nothing we needed and left us with only heartbreak and a really long eternity to think it over.

So that's the fork in the road at which we've arrived. Which path you taking? A mind set on the flesh? Or a mind set on God? A heart focused on what you want? Or a desperate desire to seek a new heart set on what God wants instead? Walking by the ways of this world? Or walking by the Spirit? As I've said so many times, we simply cannot do both.

And while the harder path means we'll not get everything we want, it brings us the assurance of knowing we'll have everything we need. Our hearts will continue to desire what God hates for as long as we continue following them and living according to the standards of this world. But, if we want better than that, and we should, we have the offer from God of forgiveness and a new heart. He can and will help us change, but we have to be the ones to take that first step. Will you take it?

#LeaveNoSoulUntold