Living as an Outlaw

 

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!  The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.  Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.  And in him is no sin."" I John 3:1-2

 

Today, we have more of a "lawless" mindset than we once did.  People used to have a greater reverence for God, the Bible, and authority in general.  Respect for parents, teachers, police and government used to be regularly taught to children.  But unfortunately we have adopted an attitude of "nobody is going to tell me anything."  We are unwilling for our kids to be disciplined, we won't put our shopping carts where the signs ask us too, etc...

But as Christians, our absolute values cannot afford to shift with the culture.  We still must reverence the Word of God, the Man (or Woman) of God, civic and governmental authorities and police.  All of this was set in place for our benefit.  Humanistic mindsets have crept into the church to the point we now believe that each person gets to decide for themselves who they will listen to and to what extent.  We have a "buffet" mentality where we pick and choose the rules we are willing to adhere to and those we elect to decline. Brothers and sisters, this should not be!

Our goal  has always been, and always  will be, to live a "low-sin" lifestyle.  We are human, we have weaknesses,  we stumble and we fall; but all the time, we must be aiming for the high mark of not sinning.   We must change our hearts, actions and mind to line up with the Bible and with the convictions that the Holy Spirit places within our heart. Christians should be the most benevolent, respectful and peaceful people on the planet. We must avoid the mentality that life owes us something, but choose instead, to take up our cross and follow Jesus.  That means we deny our wants,  our opinions and our rights.  Conversely,  we obey, submit and serve.  But that is the best life you will ever experience.  As we surrender our will and way to the Lord,  he rises up and becomes our shield of defense to fight on our behalf when others treat us wrongfully and say things that are untrue against us. There is no greater peace, joy or contentment than striving every moment of every day to live a holy, sanctified and set apart life.  As a child of God, you are a vessel carrying the precious commodity of the Holy Spirit.  You cannot do that in a vessel that is encrusted  with the filth of the world!  Strive for purity and reverence, walking in the steps of Jesus.

Dear Lord, help me to be blameless and above reproach in the way I conduct myself. Convict me in the areas that I fail you and help me to submit, even when it costs me something. in Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Sherri