Don’t get Comfortable

Yesterday I preached from Genesis 6.9-22. Though it wasn’t my main point, one thing I drew out from the text was that God calls us not merely to avoid more overt acts of sin, but to walk with him and be blameless and holy. Often times even those of us who aren’t strictly speaking legalists still approach the Christian life from a legalistic framework. What I mean is this: a legalist views it as his mission in life to avoid sin, so he keeps lots of rules (which may or may not actually be from the Bible) to be sure he won’t sin. By doing this, he hopes that God will be pleased with him. And yet much of the time the rest of us are likewise content with “avoiding sin.” we aren’t legalists, so we won’t get stressed about a bunch of extra-biblical rules, but we will play games like “figure out how much I can get away with.” We figure out where the “line” is, and then we get as close to the line as we can. But instead, God calls us to get as close to him and as far away from sin as we can. There’s a world of difference. (Now, don’t mishear me. Anything that is not biblically defined as sin can be done. I’m not saying that we should add extra standards to what Scripture says. Instead, I’m talking about our disposition and the inclination of our hearts.)

Anyway, this morning, my wife and I read 1 Peter 5 together. In verse eight, the Apostle gives us this warning, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Peter is warning us that there is danger all about us and we need to be careful. Christians do have an Enemy. The Devil is real. He is not a symbol or a myth. He is a person. And he hates us, and he wants to destroy us. And we need to be watchful. We need to be awake.

We have a tendency to get comfortable and complacent. We tend to go with the flow. The problem, though, is that we live in a world and culture that is opposed to God and inclines away from him. And the natural tendency of our sinful nature is to decline from God. When we go with the flow, we are drawn away from God. Unless we are actually striving towards God (as his Holy Spirit enables us), we are drifting away from him. We’re never at rest. We’re always going somewhere.

The good news, though, is that God has sought us out and through his Son brought us to himself. We are not saved by our ability to keep loyal or strive after God. We are saved by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

But this doesn’t change the fact that there’s danger around us, and that we need to keep a close watch on ourselves, and that we ought to be striving after God. How are you seeking him this day?

Posted by: Gene Schlesinger

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~ by geneschlesinger on April 19, 2010.