Think out Laud
Chris Kelly's journal---a blog for to publish his feeble attempts to praise Jesus Christ, bare his soul, and think out loud about these Interesting Times.
Daily Bread on 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
There are so many reasons to give up the decision to be holy, devoted to the Lord, devout, pious. Why bother, when everyone else is going absolutely insane with sin---lust, greed, pride, filth, violence and/or selfishness? Why try so hard?
I feel very often these days like Jeremiah, who had to watch helplessly as his nation plunged into unbridled immorality and was ruined from within and then from without (by enemy nations). He wrote, "Who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?' declares the Lord." [Jer 30:21b] God isn't looking for the majority. He isn't looking for a big church building, or a mass movement, or a highly-organized revival.
God is looking for one man who will devote himself to be near God. I want to be that man.
But it isn't just a mental desire I must show, but a decision, a devoting of myself, almost as a city which was "devoted to God" in Judges was destroyed and burned. It is, in New Testament parlance, "Dying every day". [1Cor 15:31] It is to "live in order to please God." [1] It takes time to control our own body and mind and devote them to please God. It takes a struggle. And most of us fail, as William Law put it, "because we have not intended" to succeed in the matter of holiness.
Instead, we avoid reading God's word so as to plead ignorance of his will. We study it cursorily so we can forget it quickly. We memorize it almost never. Now "we" but "I". If I have no INTENT to kill, it is not pre-meditated murder, so it is considered less offensive. If an unemployed man has no INTENT to get a job, he's likely to remain unemployed. If I have no INTENT to live for God, I will probably live for myself.
So to live a holy, pure life, we must repent and intend or resolve to do so, as Paul says in v.11, "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands ... so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody." This is not a call to be hermits, but a call to be SIMPLE, to live simply. It is quite the opposite of the hip-hop, metro-sexual, busybody, urban lifestyle we see everywhere, full of gadgetry and a constant stream of music, phone calls, text messages, email and chats, and multi-tasking.
OH how I wish I could have a job to "work with my hands" instead of being highly paid to solve more little problems and provide a slightly more convenient and opulent lifestyle to my fellow rich Americans. I guess this could be arranged. I am thankful for my job. But give me the simple life. Lord, give me at least a life that is simple enough that I shall never be too busy to spend time with you. AMEN
Posted by ckelly at September 27, 2007 10:39 AM