My mind tends to wander in church. Often a seed is planted in the sermon or it might come from a totally unknown source.
I ask you, which is worse, “the devil made me do it,” or “God made me do it”?
Most older people are familiar with the Flip Wilson comedy routine and his line, “The devil made me do it.” Most people understood the root of the humor was in the fact that we all look for excuses in our behavior and the devil is a convenient fall guy.
I would submit that some people use God as the fall guy.
Some I would categorize as hypocrites or false prophet types. These are the people that go out and set up kingdoms in the name of God that are really covers for their own dreams of grandeur or frustration. They use God as a club to force people into submission or brainwash them to conformity. We all know that and can avoid it with a little thought.
A more dangerous trap is those who live good lives and “follow the rules” but they only do it because they have an unhealthy fear of God and obey grudgingly. God can coerce and I am sure does at times but being forced to do something is not the heart of being a follower of Christ. It is not about being forced to be good.
When we place our trust in Christ what happens is that He defeats the power of sin and rebellion in our hearts and minds. That makes it possible to do the things God wants to because we want to, not because we are being forced.
How about an example. When I am tempted to gossip about someone I can resist through biting my tongue and clamping my jaw. I can focus on the reality that God is listening and will judge me for what I say. Or I can allow the love of Christ to control me and make it possible for me to actually want to make things better for the person I could have gossiped about instead of getting satisfaction from doing harm. Both tendencies are there at the beginning. The grace of God makes it possible for me to follow my higher inclinations.
Turn your life over to Jesus. Let God change you. Take the high road because you like the view, not because you are afraid you will get your shoes wet.
homo unius libri
And Maranatha!
ReplyDeleteGrace and peace.