November 24, 2017 NO SEPERATION
Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,”
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
We have a strong tendency to view somethings we do as being spiritual, and somethings we do as being secular, or non-spiritual. We may think that attending a church meeting on Sunday morning is more spiritual than playing golf on Friday, or reading the bible more spiritual than mowing the lawn. Contrary to what some may say, there is no room for the ‘secular’ in the thinking of the believer. The word ‘secular’ is defined as “denoting attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis.” The clear teaching of the scriptures is that the believer has been joined to God, and because we are one with Him, all we do is to flow out of that relationship. 1 Corinthians 6:17 says: “But whoever is united with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.” And in Acts 17:28 we read “for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’” Even though we belong to Him, we can choose to walk not according to the Spirit and do things that do not please Him, thus grieving the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30. However, we can die to self and walk according to the Spirit and be a blessing to Him in all we do. There is a genuine freedom that comes when we acknowledge that we belong to Him and it becomes our goal and our desire to please Him rather than pleasing ourselves. This is the battle for the believer-can we abandon ourselves, die to our desires, and present our lives to Him with no conditions? God desires that we die to ourselves in order that He might fill us with Himself—what a trade! (Actually, living according to self is a miserable way of living.) The good news for the believer is that the life of God in us touches every aspect of our lives and it brings life and purpose to whatever we do. When walking in our true identity in the Lord, whether we go to church as unto the Lord, or whether we go fishing as unto the Lord, we are pleasing Him. (There are times when we may want ‘to go fishing’-or whatever-but the Lord may call us to do something else, and that we must do.) The point is that God always has in mind what is good for us, and He always desires to enjoy us and bless us, and He wants us to experience abundant life. So, whatever we do, let us do it as unto the Lord, with the desire to be pleasing to Him, trusting Him as the giver of life-He knows better than us what satisfies the longings of our heart and what brings a sense of satisfaction in life.
1 Timothy 6:17 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies all things to enjoy.”
Romans 10:11 “For the scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed