Bible Ballistics: BBs #478 Devotion Or Distraction???
“As the hart panteth after the water brooks,
so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2 My soul thirsteth for God,
for the living God:
when shall I come and appear before God?” Psalm 42:1-2
This Psalm has been on my heart and mind all week, and I just wanted to share a few thoughts about it with you today. We live in a busy world—a world that not only distracts us to wicked things, but a world that distracts us in more subtle ways as well. I just can’t seem to escape the thought that I am so easily distracted from God and the things that are pleasing to Him, and as it says we will all “appear before God” and the truth will prevail. (Read Hebrews 4:12-13)
We live in a world that is changing the moorings and leading people away from God by making Him unimportant and minimalizing the things and standards of God. There was a time when black and white were just that, yet now things are being blended together into a mishmash of unidentifiable gray. What truly saddens me is that so many are becoming blinded to the “wiles of the devil”. Things that were once recognized as ‘sin’ are now accepted, and of course “who are we to judge?” Well, to put it simply, I am a child of God, born “of His Spirit, washed in His blood” (From Blessed Assurance, by Fanny J. Crosby) and I believe what HIS Word says and that it IS truth! I am gratefully bound by love and devotion to heed, obey and share it! (And by share I don’t mean beat people over the head with my Bible, but I do mean we are to live out our faith in word and deed continually, without fear or compromise with grace and love.)
I won’t make a list of “do’s and don’ts” but I will mention a few things that we need to be cautious of, and the first is taking Jesus and faith in Him as another distraction of life, rather than devoting ourselves to Him! The Psalmist said that he longed after God as the “deer panteth for the water” (hart is a deer)—and believe me living in Oklahoma with sweltering heat waves, makes ‘panting’ after water a reality. In fact there is no life without water (and Jesus is the water of life!), yet many who claim the name of Jesus, live their lives without any regard for His Word or His ways. God calls His own to live in the power of His Spirit—in holiness.
“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind,
be sober,
and hope to the end
for the grace that is to be brought
unto you
at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient children,
not fashioning yourselves according
to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you
is holy,
so be ye holy
in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written,
Be ye holy;
for I am holy.
17 And if ye call on the Father,
who without respect of persons
judgeth
according to every man’s work,
pass the time of your sojourning here
in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know
that ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things,
as silver
and gold,
from your vain conversation
received by tradition
from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ,
as of a lamb
without blemish
and without spot:” 1 Peter 1:13-19
When we belong to Jesus, we receive His Holy Spirit to dwell within us and empower us to live a holy life in HIS power! Yet we settle for pantheistic practices, immoral compromise, language straight from the gutters, and pleasures that drive us to do things that are less than pleasing to our Lord. We have simply added Jesus to our list of options, rather than honoring and following Him as the Lord and love of our lives. Jesus, who gave His blood for our life and salvation—I desire to please and draw near to Him rather than the world, yet sometimes it’s so hard to cling to Him when my hands are so full of distractions, but the choice is ours to make!
“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God,
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin
for a season;
26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches
than the treasures in Egypt:
for he had respect
unto the recompence of the reward.” Hebrews 11:24-26
How? By “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”!!! Hebrews 12:2a
Amen and Amen!