When we read the Bible, we are reading the accounts of people some 2000 years ago that God decided were important life accounts for us to know of and learn from. So if my life account was written down to be looked at years from now, what would it look like?
I imagine it would read similar to the way an author described his life:
“…my early story would have to be recorded along these lines: ‘He did everything exactly as God commanded him half the time, every now and then, whenever it suited him, or sometimes when it was easy.'”
Too often I find that I am living to please myself rather than the One who I’ve called upon as Lord & Master. I need more obedience. I need more sanctification in my life and less sophistication…
“Sanctification is the process by which a man becomes normal in the context of the kingdom of God. The more sanctified you are, the more the fruit of the Spirit will grow freely, and the more normal you will seem to other Christians.”
“Sophistication, on the other hand, is the process by which a man becomes normal in the context of the world. The more sophisticated you are, the more normal you’ll look to [those without Christ]. You’ll fit right into their world. The fruits of sophistication include lust, faithlessness, selfishness, self-absorption, and the love of money.”
“The fruit of sophistication rots the fruit of the Spirit.”
And yet what I often find within myself is a desire to look more normal to the world. If the fruit of sophistication rots the fruit of the Spirit, then what do I need to do to build up more fruit of the Spirit and become more normal in relation to God’s kingdom?
“All of God’s revealed truths are sealed until they are opened to us through obedience. You will never open them through philosophy or thinking. But once you obey, a flash of light comes immediately. If you obey God in the first thing He shows you, then He instantly opens up the next truth to you.”
I think that is it – I just need to obey today.
I need to make a choice to listen to His will for my life today and take that first step of obedience. Then He will show me the next step to take. I don’t have to worry about how I will get my entire sinful life under control all at once. Instead, I need to just ask God what He would have me do first. What to do right now. Do it. And then repeat the process.
(quotes from ‘Every Man’s Challenge’ by Arterburn & Stoeker)