Father, thus far this week has been full but most definitely a blessing. Work and then a meeting at church Monday evening, then on Tuesday, work with a trip out of town in the middle of routes followed by a time of fellowship and interaction with fellow pastors. And today, work and then errands to pick up some necessities. Tiring but all good. Thank You, Father, for the plentiful gifts of Your hand.
Luke 5:33-39 (<<click to read the passage)
Patching holes in clothes and darning holes in socks, at least in our culture, is pretty much a thing of the past. Holey jeans are a popular fashion statement for both guys and gals – I see them being worn regularly on my bus. And who keeps old socks? We just by new ones and throw away the old!
Some do like creating new looks by patching old things and end up with interesting looking creations. But most just don’t want to bother with it.
But what about people? When people come to Jesus for salvation, 2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP) tells us,
Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].
Most assuredly our moral and spiritual conditions become new but for most of us the new that comes is in an “old” body with “old” habits. And it can be very difficult to rid ourselves of those things.
I know that some people miraculously find themselves free of old vices. But many had to pray and depend on the Lord to help them overcome those clinging old habits.
I think some people of the church expect people to be relatively “perfect” when they give their lives to Christ and disparagingly call them out on the habits of which they struggle to rid themselves. One area of struggle that some have to deal with is profanity. If you have always been around profanity and vulgar language has been a part of your vocabulary for as long as you can remember, it very possibly will be hard to quit. It may only come to an end with much prayer and determination and even then, smack your thumb with a hammer, and out it comes!
Someone addicted to pornography could have similar struggles. Our society is so replete with sexual imagery and innuendo, it would be a great challenge to keep our hearts and minds pure on any given day. Only by leaning on and depending upon Jesus can we ever have any hope it putting it behind us.
We must remember the Apostle Paul’s words to the Roman church,
As it is written and forever remains written,
“There is none righteous [none that meets God’s standard], not even one.
“There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God.
“All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good, no, not one.” Romans 3:10-12 (AMP)
Not a single one of us is perfect and God understands. He forgives our failings, over and over again. Grace and mercy are extended to us freely without question. Should we do any less for our brothers and sisters in Christ?
Jan 29th, 2020, Wed, 8:00 pm
