BIBLE PASSAGE:
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose
for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods
your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my
household, we will serve the Lord.”
(Joshua 24:15)
MEDITATION:
When we receive salvation from the Lord, we begin a new journey,
with new paths, new goals, new focus, and new attitudes.
The scriptures are clear about the changes we should expect.
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that
the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should
no longer be slaves to sin (Romans 6:6)
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life,
to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its
deceitful desires (Ephesians 4:22)
Do not lie to each other, since you have
taken off your old self with its practices (Colossians 3:9)
Why should we expect these changes?
Because we are not only thankful for our own salvation,
but we have a new desire to see others receive God’s salvation as well.
As a result of our ‘new self’ we become participants in the Lord’s work.
Using the Spiritual gift the Lord has given us, and with the help,
guidance and encouragement from the Holy Spirit (another gift
from God promised to believers), we are to become the Light of the world.
If we, as believers, fail to provide light, the world will become darker.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they
put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the
same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your
good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven”. (Matthew 5:14-16)
We start our new journey with enthusiasm and the best intentions,
but then we begin to lose our zest for serving the Lord, and we
discover sins that we thought were defeated, start to show up
in our lives once again.
However, there is a difference since we now belong to the Lord.
We have developed a greater sensitivity to sin
and we have discovered that things we once thought were okay,
are actually sins that we failed to notice or understand before
we received God’s salvation.
As a result of this new sensitivity to sin and a new awareness of sins
that we may have winked at in the past and not considered as a sin,
it almost seems that as we grow closer to the Lord,
the farther away we might feel at times.
In his cleverness, Satan seizes these opportunities to start
convincing us that we are unworthy to consider ourselves
as members of God’s family.
And it doesn’t stop there!
He begins to put destructive thoughts in our head like:
“You’ve already sinned, so
what difference does it make if you continue with this sin?”
“You have already fallen
and you fall no further if you commit the same sin again.”
“You have broken your fellowship with the Lord
and He will not forgive you ‘this time’.”
“You never really received salvation from God
or you would not have committed this sin.”
The list can go on and on, but his goal is to cause doubt in our
minds so that we will lose our desire to grow closer to the Lord
and will no longer be a ‘light of the world’.
The more people he can control with these thoughts, the less
number of lost people will be reached, and that pleases Satan.
Satan wants to make us forget
motivational and inspiring scriptures such as:
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me;
my only aim is to finish the race and complete the
task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying
to the good news of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24)
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,
but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as
to get the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great
cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that
hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let
us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
(Hebrews 12:1)
Paul equates carrying our ‘light’ to running a race.
Ask anyone who runs in races and they will tell you how obstacles
can appear which could hinder them from reaching their goal.
There can be obstacles in the terrain such as uneven ground and hills,
but there are also physical obstacles such as a pain in some
area of the body that affects their pace and/or their breathing.
And there can be environmental obstacles
such as air pollution or extreme heat and cold.
But there can also be mental obstacles
that can cause them to stop running the race.
Then Paul asks a question regarding our loss of interest in
running the race (in this case, serving the Lord by being a light).
You were running a good race.
Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?
(Galatians 5:7)
Then he answers his own question in an effort
to open our eyes to the reason we fail at times.
That kind of persuasion does not come from
the one who calls you. (Galatians 5:8)
Paul wants us to realize the powerful efforts from the evil one
to discourage us from serving God by creating thoughts like:
“Am I really doing anything that makes
a difference in reaching lost souls?”
“How can I continue serving the Lord
if I continue giving into sin in my own life?”
“If I am really saved, then why do I keep on failing?”
Apparently Paul was a victim of these thoughts,
but rather than allowing them to discourage him,
he chose to continue the ‘race’ until he saw results from his efforts.
I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately
with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel
that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not
running and had not been running my race in vain. (Galatians 2:2)
Paul was focused on one thing, and that was to
completely navigate the path God had placed before him.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7)
ACTION:
Maybe you have been discouraged
and feel like giving up your efforts to serve the Lord.
Perhaps you felt the need for encouragement, but it never came.
If that’s the case, then remember the Lord is our greatest encourager.
Others may disappoint us, but God never will.
When you feel your efforts are in vain,
learn from Paul and do more, not less.
If we allow ourselves to be overcome with
negative thoughts from the evil one, then he wins.
But if we continue in our efforts to obey God,
then we can have victory over these discouraging thoughts.
God sent us the Holy Spirit to encourage us to overcome Satan’s
efforts to ‘fill our heart’ with anything that will prevent us from
‘keeping the faith’, ‘fighting the good fight’ and ‘finishing the race’.
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira,
also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge
he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the
rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Then Peter said, “Ananias,
how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied
to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money
you received for the land? (Acts 3:6-8)
We obey God rather than man because:
We respect and worship Him.
We are grateful for His blessings.
We love Him.
We trust Him.
We feel security in Him.
When we worship Him, are grateful for Him, love Him, trust Him,
and feel secure in Him, we develop a calm assurance that helps us
overcome any negative thoughts or feelings planted by the evil one.
Remember, if God’s Word tells us that chickens can pull a locomotive,
it is not for us to question His Word, or His purpose, it is our job to
hook up the chickens to the locomotive – we are called to obey Him
without apprehension or reluctance, even when we don’t understand.
If you are serving the Lord already,
then you can probably relate to everything above.
You can experience these same issues even if you are not serving the
Lord, but if you are not serving Him, then the question is, “Why not?”
How important is the work of every believer to ‘be a light’?
The scriptures give us the answer to that question.
In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence
of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)
Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error
of their way will save them from death and cover over
a multitude of sins. (James 5:20)
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, I cannot think of enough words to
adequately thank You for what You have done for me.
Thank You for reminding me that You have included
me as part of Your earthly ministry of spreading the
gospel. Thank You for giving me the Holy Spirit to help
me in becoming ‘a light of the world’. Remind me of the
importance of my efforts and how anything I do to answer
Your call to serve will not be in vain. I pray that You will
help me to ‘push through’ the schemes of the evil one to
discourage and cause me to quit the race You have laid
out before me.”
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