Everything must be closed, everything must be taken care of immediately. Every action and decision must be made in consideration of God ans His Kingdom. Because the devil is prowling around like a lion, looking for someone to devour, waiting for any foothold. Have you ever actually tried to picture that? The lion, that ferocious beast, which could destroy you in a moment, knows where you are--it's already spotted you--and it's pacing, just waiting. And it's hungry. Very hungry. Its sole focus is on making you its meal, and it will not be satisfied unless it licks your bones clean. The camera you dropped just outside the reach of the your jeep that you might be able to grab, if you just try, if you're very quick, probably isn't worth it.
Do not give the devil a foothold. I implore you, if there is some area of weakness in your life that you "just haven't gotten around to," or perhaps are trying to ignore, thinking it will magically resolve itself--take care of it NOW, even if a quick fix isn't in sight. We cannot afford to have the enemy frustrate the plans the Lord has for our lives. Time is too short. We only have days. Minutes.
There is too much to be done to waste our lives doing anything other than living completely and fully for the Lord. People are lost and hurting. People are dying without ever having heard about Jesus, or maybe they've "heard" Him but they haven't actually seen Him.
The harvest is plentiful. The time is now.
***
"What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away." - 1 Corinthians 7:29-31.
So many good points! I think the sense of urgency is something we all (even, maybe especially, as believers) forget about. Letting sin slide "for now" is often how lots of us go through life.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think it's also important to consider that living a life that doesn't involve slow down, or even just stop, can go against being still and knowing that He is God. Yes, God gives us a mission, commands us to work for him, convicts us of our sin, opens our hearts to the lost, but HE is the one doing all the work. And even Jesus, during his ministry, (as well as the Apostles) took a "break." Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that the slowing down should allow opportunities for sin. And I do think for particular people with particular struggles, slowing down period may lead into sin. But we cannot "take care" of our own sin in the sense that we just get rid of it. It's like when we've talked about sanctification before, some junk takes a long time. Some sins are things people struggle with for their whole lives. It isn't an excuse to let them go, but it's a caution that for some who feel this kind of message is a mandate for living intensely (and therefore, uber-focused on getting rid of sin and saving all the lost), guilt over not being rid of sin can build up as the struggles continue. And with that, legalism and pietism can arise without one even being aware. Christ has died and risen, forgiven us already, so that we can live for Him IN GRACE. He has begun the good work and will see it to completion. Yes, the devil TRIES to thwart God's plan for us, but God is always sovereign. He has no Plan B, Plan C (through Z), for our lives because, well, we just plain keep messing up. While He obviously commands us not to sin, He sent the Savior because we would and we do. 1 John 2:1.
I just wanted to respond to this because while I definitely see multiple convicting points for my own life, and life in general, I have also seen what messages like yours can lead to if there is no element of grace in the call. There is an overarching "do, do, do/ go, go, go" throughout the post, and I wanted to offer a perspective that perhaps that is not the biggest or most important part of our walks through the earth.
Yeah, I see your point. What I'm trying to get at is really a -response- to God. Because, honestly, we can -choose- to remain in sin, or just be careless enough not to ever notice the ways in which sin or the enemy tries to slip in. At the gist of it all, I'm really just trying to address an attitude of apathy and lack of intentionality that would prevent us from living the way God wants us to, or as you said it, messing up his plans.
DeleteThanks for sharing Adrian. Know that you ministered to my heart today! I immediately saw ways to respond to this in my own life and immediately did so.
ReplyDeleteAdrian, this is powerful and true. Thank you so much for writing. I forget sometimes that we're in a battle. I forget the urgency and the need to live like it's a fight. Sometimes, I forget who the enemy is. This was really powerful.
ReplyDelete