It is very difficult to live in the image of Christ, when the world entices you to play in fields with thorns.
I am human. I make human choices, some good, some bad; ultimately they are free will choices. And it’s within these choices I confirm obedient and disobedient decisions to God’s will.
This I know about myself:
- I’ve sat on the fence and have been enticed by pretty flowers in fields of thorns; dawdling back and forth between what feels good and what is right.
- I have bloomed and died with wildflowers, making unwise choices and have felt the pain from them.
- I’ve lived in dry seasons, wandering around in the desert asking when and why; waiting for answers through tears and smiles. And I survived, yet still waiting for answers, hoping that my humanness doesn’t get in the way of waiting, however impatient I maybe, waiting for tomorrow, and then tomorrow, and then tomorrow, and then tomorrow, for answers.
- I’ve pretended that Jesus was a genie, rubbing the lamp for wishes to come true, only to realize this isn’t who Jesus is.
Juggling my faith in today’s culture, is a difficult task. I am enticed by the humanitarian of life and it tugs at me at times. I find that when I am pulled into society and its problems, I gradually immerse into the ways of the human intellectual belief system. I nonchalantly detach from the peace I know that resides in Christ and fall under the weight of worldly expectations, blinding me from truth. Slowly, I become hypnotized into believing something that I am not.
Today, I am climbing back, growing closer and making time to sit at the feet of Jesus. Every day is hard. Some days I don’t sit at all, I jump out of bed and hit the ground running. Yet those days that I do sit for a moment with my Savior, I find the peace I’ve desired, that I’ve craved, and that I’ve missed by allowing the world to pull me from His presence.
I am only one of many who have drifted from Christ and found my way back, again. If this is you, you are not alone. You’re keeping up with the Jones yet trying to cling onto God at the same time, while figuring out how to get back in to the graces of God. You are in a tug-o-war between reaching out of the turbulent waters for air and being pulled down by darkness in the deep. Your faith is in the in between, on the fence, lukewarm and you just realized that thorns are growing up your pant leg after you’ve been found smelling the flowers for so long.
Let me tell you, I know where you are, I’ve been there a time or two. It takes strength to have faith and trust in God. It takes stepping beyond the day to day living, just like everyone else, for something better. It takes determination and self-control to free yourself from the tight reins of cultural beliefs to establish a faith of your own. You own it; it’s yours, not anyone else’s.
Will that choice be today? Will you repent, surrender, pray, and recommit to becoming more like Him; more like the image of Christ? Because, at some point, when the thrill is gone and you’ve all but given up, Jesus will be right there waiting with open arms to receive you. No questions asked.
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