Don't Associate

If you’re familiar with the life of Jesus, you’ll know that he spent a considerable amount of time with unbelievers. After all, he said that “it is the sick that need a doctor, not those who think they are already good enough”. Today, we are called to follow his example, but there will come a time when we will want to separate ourselves from the godless. Second Timothy warns us about this when speaking about the last days. It says in chapter 3 verses 1-5: 

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

Certainly these people exist today, but I believe these kinds of people will be more prevalent as we come closer and closer to the Lord’s return. In those last days, Timothy warns us to have nothing to do with them. The Bible also tells us to “work while it is day”. In other words, we are to make every effort to win others to Christ now before the darkness of the end times are upon us. There will come a day when we are not to have anything to do with the godless, but I don’t believe that time is now. Now, we are to love them and win them to Christ with the help and power of the Holy Spirit. However, in doing this, I believe we must also exercise discernment. Proverbs warns us not to “throw our pearls to the swine”. In other words, we shouldn’t strive to share the gospel with those who are hostile to it. If you do, you will likely end up being trampled. So I encourage you to be discerning and to work while it is day, because when the last days are upon us it will be too late.

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Timothy reminds us that there will be terrible times in the last days where people will behave so badly that we are warned to not have anything to do with them. But until that day comes, I encourage you to share the gospel with love, discernment and with the aid and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Now We Know

At times, it seems as though the commandments that are given to us in the Bible are a double-edged sword. Yes, they help us in maintaining a right relationship with God if we obey them, but if we didn’t know that acting in a certain manner was sin, we may have never considered acting that way in the first place. It is almost like when a parent tells their child not to do something. Now that the idea of this disobedient act is put in the child’s head, they may want to do it, where they wouldn’t have even considered it before. Paul puts it this way in Romans 7:7-9: 

“For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.”

In other words, we didn’t really know what sin was until the Bible told us. Now that we know, our human nature is alerted to it, which is good and bad. We know what is wrong, but for some reason, our flesh often wants to do what it shouldn’t be doing. What’s more is now that we know, we have no excuse. Jesus said to the Pharisees who claimed that they weren’t “blind”, that now that they claim they can see, they are responsible for their sin. In that respect, now we are too.

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Now that the Bible has taught us what God considers sin, we are accountable for that knowledge. Paul says that he wouldn’t have known what coveting was if the Bible didn’t tell him not to covet. But now that he knows, his fleshly nature knows as well. It is a problem, but the Holy Spirit can help us stand in the midst of temptation. The added power of knowing what is sinful in God’s sight is also knowing what is permissible, and even desired of us from God. Yes, we now know what he doesn’t like, but the Bible also teaches us what he does like so that we can pursue that activity all the more. So, I encourage you to read the Bible for yourself so that you know what God likes and doesn’t like. Knowledge does hold us accountable, but we don’t want to live in ignorance either.

Where is Your Heart?

Matthew is probably my favorite book of the Bible. As one of the four gospels, it just feels more comprehensive than the others to me. It presents so many verses directly from Jesus that I would certainly consider it a must-read for any believer, or even seeker. In chapter 6 verses 19 through 21, we read a warning directly from the mouth of Jesus. He says:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Heaven offers the most secure banking system ever. There is no chance that you can lose your treasure like we can here on earth. But I appreciate what Jesus says; “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. Where is your heart today? Is it focused on earthly things, or on heavenly things? Not only is our heavenly treasure 100% secure, it also has a better return on investment. We can only build up treasure in heaven if our hearts are focused on heavenly things. At times, we need to press the “pause button” on life and examine our hearts. More often than not, I’d argue that if we did, we’d realize that our hearts might require a bit of alignment so that we can be more in tuned with the Holy Spirit.

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Jesus says “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We need to make sure that our heart is right before God. To do that, we need to do a bit of personal examination, and we need to be honest with ourselves. What has our attention? What do we think about? What do we spend time doing? Where do we spend our money? I’m sure Jesus realizes we have to live in this world, but we also need to realize that this is not our home. Our heart is the rudder of our devotion to the truth; an internal compass of where we are regarding our relationship with him. And the only way we can take stock of where we are, is by pausing life and examining our heart.

Honor God

How often do you think about the poor and less fortunate? Personally, I confess that I don’t think about them all that much. The truth is that if we don’t see them, we likely won’t think about them; “out of sight out of mind”. But walking closely with God often means that we, as believers, should be proactive about the things of God, even if the problem isn’t staring us in the face. Proverbs 14:31 says:

“He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”

I believe most believers would be quick to say that they do not oppress the poor. But how many of us can say that we are kind to the needy? Proverbs assures us that if we are, we will be honoring God. So, I encourage you not to let yourself get so wrapped up in the daily responsibilities of your life that you forget about the things that honor God. Being kind to the needy is one such way. But most of us are not likely to stumble upon a beggar or someone in dire financial need. We may have to actually seek them out.

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Proverbs tells us that “whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” Once while I was out running errands, I saw a beggar outside of a store I was approaching. I decided that after I’d purchased what I needed, I’d give him a little cash on the way back to my car. As I was waiting in the checkout line I looked outside of the window and observed a very young man, probably a college student, stop what he was doing as he made a bee-line to the needy man. He gave him money and then went on his way. It really touched me to see someone so proactive that even as they were preoccupied with what they were doing, they decided to break away from their activity to help someone in need. Unfortunately, when I left the store, the homeless man was gone. I’d missed my opportunity to honor God, but that young college student did not. I encourage you to be proactive, to not miss opportunities and to honor God in any way that you can. Being kind to the needy is one such way.

Road to Love

When we take the leap of faith and choose, for the first time, to make Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, our lives probably won’t change overnight. Typically, over time, the Holy Spirit will make us more and more like Jesus if, of course, we let him. I believe that Second Peter chapter 1, verses 5 through 9, outlines the order of progression every believer will take as we mature in our faith and surrender more and more to our Lord. It says:

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.”

If you really think about each of these levels of maturity, you might come to realize, as I have, that this progression makes sense. It is also revealing that the ultimate goal is love. Where in this progression do you find yourself? You might want to look at it more closely when you have time and really think about what each step means in your life. We can all be transformed from having faith enough to believe, to having the kind of Godly love that Jesus portrayed when he walked this earth.

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If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our maturity, we will learn that the progression Peter points out makes sense. You can’t really skip steps, and you can’t push through them in your own strength. You might find yourself struggling at a few stages, or conversely, operating on many of these levels at the same time. You might even falter or slip back a few steps on occasion. In any event, every one of these virtues are important. But the ultimate goal is love, which many of us will never fully reach. Though as Peter puts it, we need to make every effort.