My thought in starting this blog was to give people an opportunity to engage in an exchange of ideas around spiritual issues. So I would like to encourage you to respond to any of the posts I make.
This past Sunday I read the following verse in my quiet time, “The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.” (Proverbs 15:19) As I read that verse it struck me that often the opposite seems to be more the case. It appears in the world in which we live that those who choose the path of least resistance often seem to have it easier than those who choose the right way.
But we must step back and look at the big picture of the choices we make. God does not call us to take the easy path. God calls us to walk in the path of the upright. That means when there is a choice to make which might include discomfort but is right, we have to choose what is right. Being a follower of Jesus often means living counter to the culture that surrounds us.
The author of two of my favorite collections of personal devotions Chris Tiegreen writes, “God calls for diligence. Laziness and discipleship do not mix. He doesn’t mean for us to obsess about every minor choice, but He expects us to draw a line in the sand and refuse to let the culture dictate our lives.”
We must not only pledge allegiance to Christ with our words but also demonstrate that allegiance through our choices and actions. At times this can be incredibly difficult and it requires that we are not lazy in our choices.
2 comments:
Could you perhaps expand on the role of Christian fellowship in walking the right path. If a Christian stumbles by failing to make a difficult choice, to what extent is this a failure in the body of Christ as a whole? Sometimes I don't feel that Christians do enough to encourage fellow believers in making the right choices when the right choices are hard to make. We often have a "go it alone" strategy. How would you advise Christians to proceed when approaching a stumbling brother resistant to confrontation?
You make a great observation. This is a significant problem. It is one of the reasons that I am such big supporter of groups. We are not called to live the Christian life in isolation. We are called to live in Christian community. Part of that community includes submitting to accountable relationships. These relationships take time to develop but are worth the effort.
We make a mistake, however, if we try to speak into someone's life who we have not invested in developing a relationship.
I would advise anyone who believes they need to approach a brother about an issue to do so after much prayer. We must do so in humility and love. Asking questions and looking together in Scripture is the good approach. But this is one of those hard issues no doubt.
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