In Hot Pursuit

The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord , 

but He loves him who pursues righteousness. (Proverbs 15:9 ESV)

If we're tired of the sin that we keep finding ourselves in, perhaps we should start making more intentional efforts to avoid it. We can't keep using the same language, looking at the same websites, fixing our eyes in the same place, or hanging out in the same old places and expect new behaviors. If you want what's right you have to start running in that direction. It isn't always easy--sometimes we feel like we're gaining on it and other times like we're falling a lap behind. Just keep running.

Intimate Greetings

We have different levels of intimacy with people that we know. There are some that we would wave to if we saw them across the room. There are others that we would see and work our way to them to embrace them.

Our relationship with God isn't so different from that. There are times when we see Him from a distance and give Him a wave or a wink and a nod. We are comfortable knowing Him, but don't want Him to get to close to us out of fear, apathy or selfishness. There are other times when we would run across the room to see Him and grab Him in a big bear hug that might make other people around us uncomfortable.

What is the difference between these two scenarios? It can't be God-He doesn't change. The shift then is in us. It is in our character-our willingness to be righteous people through His Holy Spirit. Andy Stanley put it this way in his book, Louder Than Words, "...character paves the way to intimacy with God."

It makes me give thought to how I would greet God if I saw Him from across the room today.

Who Owns You?

We don't like to think about anyone owning us. We would rather focus on our freedom of choice and our ever-increasing desire for independence. Starting from when we are children, we want to say what we want to say, wear what we want to wear, go where we want to go and do what we want to do. We even convince ourselves that we have no master and that our self-ambition, personality, intelligence and abilities will bring success and happiness.

The truth is that we are all slaves in one way or another. We may believe that we are fully independent, but instead we are serving one of two masters.

In Romans 6, Paul presents the parallel paths. You are either a slave to sin which leads to death, or a slave to God which leads to righteousness. You might disagree with something so absolute and insist that you are a slave to nothing, but your verbal/mental denial doesn't change your status.

One type of slavery is true imprisonment-trapped in addictions, expectations, shameful sin and ignorance. One type of slavery is ironically one of the most freeing ways to live and brings hope, mercy, grace, goodness and love.

Unlike slavery in the physical world, we get to choose who will own us and in fact already have.