God's
Word makes it clear that if we love the world, and the things of the world,
more than we love God, our Father's love is not in us; therefore the Apostle
John encourages us not to love this world or anything in it (1 John 2:15).
Living
a Godly life requires that we focus on living a holy life. However, in today's
society, with all of the glitter and glitz, it is so easy to get sidetracked.
We start out by dabbling in sin, but we end up as sin’s slave.
Holiness
and sin cannot dwell together in the same person. The weeds of this world
threaten to choke the very life from us. We get entangled in them, and they
trip us up and hinder our walk with the Lord.
Thankfully,
when God sent His only begotten Son as an offering for our sin, the Law of the
Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus set us free from the Law of Sin and Death. Now,
we simply walk in this freedom, because the Son has truly set us free (Romans
8:1-3; John 8:36).
The
difference between people who are chaff and those that are wheat is found in
our choices. Wheat typifies those who are not only convicted of sin, but who
are also actually converted from sin and who live transformed lives.
We
can refuse to live as the slave of sin and choose to be the bond slave of Jesus
instead (1 Corinthians 7:22). This gives the Holy Spirit permission to sanctify
our thoughts, emotions and choices, and to set our feet on the narrow road
(Matthew 7:13-14).
There
is only One Way to obtain freedom from any addiction to this world. That is
through the leadership of the Holy Spirit within us. He will permeate and
perfect us until we live for God alone, in the abundance of His righteousness,
peace and joy (Romans 14:17).
Prayer:
Father
God, never allow any love for the world to dilute our love for You. Keep us
unspotted from the world and overpower us by Your love until we crave our union
with You more than any attachment or addiction to things of this life. Help us
to walk in Your Spirit, so that we will not fulfill the lusts of our flesh (Romans
5:15-25).
Thank
You for conforming us to the image of Christ, because our spiritual identity
will insure our eternal destiny. We want to serve You with every breath of air
that we breathe, every thought that we think, every word that we speak, and every
action that we perform both today and always.
Thought
for the Day:
The
Master Gardener promises that in the end, He will separate the chaff from the
wheat, and burn the counterfeit in the eternal flames of hell; this is a
daunting thought, which makes us realize the importance of our commitment to
Christ now.
