ARE YOU DROWNING?
Most often it is a quiet progression as moments of subtle resignation seem to ease the exhaustion of increasingly unproductive effort. Moments of deceptively sweet rest like the first moments of relapse into a familiar sin or addiction. And then the Panic and the Terror when we realize our loss. Drowning is a moving back and forth between hopeless resignation to exhaustion and the terrifying experience of loss of control to asphyxiation.
Christianity describes life on earth as a similar struggle for survival. A struggle against the focused efforts of a deadly and very deceptive foe. An enemy whose intent is to ensnare and enslave and even destroy our lives. His plan, is to hijack life's true purpose. To redirect it down paths of compulsive service to temptations or even addictions or patterns that abuse self or others in pursuit of relief or pleasures.
But as Christians we are instructed to lay aside these hindrances, weights, and encumbrances along with anything else that entangle us. We are to break free from what the Bible describes as the parasitic effect of sin in and on our lives.
The article cited at the very bottom of this page examines the deadly events of drowning. It describes the seriousness of what is happening, and why so many unknowingly watch calmly as both children and adults drown in their presence, unaided.
Spiritually speaking, a progression toward loss, much like drowning is very common. Without assistance, all of us find ourselves quietly, or perhaps, not so quietly drowning in our sins.
But which sins? Are some sins weightier than others? Or is this quiet drifting away a universal human problem? Can you be drowning in your sin and not know it? And how is it to be remedied?
The message of Christmas presents a timely hope. The promise of a Savior sent to free His people from the bondage and fatal separation that this sin problem creates.
Matthew 1:21
And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, (which means Savior), for He will save His people from their sins.”
Although you may be a disciplined person, very religious, even from a devout religious tradition. You may still be drowning. Many have replaced saving faith with personal ideas of goodness, or citizenship or even syncretized true Christian faith with something more in harmony with today's claims of, "enlightened," cultural goodness. Regardless of our attempts to achieve, "goodness," the problem of being separated from God's salvation because of our, "sinful nature," and drowning in our sins is a universal problem that we cannot solve on our own.
So what does this, "Saved," promise mean?
Scripture teaches that because God arrived Incarnate in Christ, and then sacrificed himself for us...
1) We can be delivered from bearing the penalty for our sins as we follow Him in faith.
Romans 4:25
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
2) We can be delivered from the power and control that sin holds over our lives as we surrender to Christ's leadership through the guidance of His Holy Spirit.
Romans 6:14
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
3) And we can eventually be delivered from all presence of sin in totality as we enter heaven to further commune with our Savior and Lord.
Revelation 1:4
and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
So how do we to engage in this process in the here and now?
The chapters below provide some of the answer to this question.
Hebrews 12 King James Version (KJV)
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Hebrews 12 The Message (MSG)
1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
4-11 In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves.
Many find these verses foreign to their understanding. They may even conflict with the values they have been taught in our modern Humanist Culture. Some of our churches have adopted this culture and skip over them or omit them completely from their teachings.
If you are not familiar with Humanist teaching, and have questions about the revolutionary changes they are bringing to our culture, including many of our churches, consider the conversation below.
If you are not familiar with Humanist teaching, and have questions about the revolutionary changes they are bringing to our culture, including many of our churches, consider the conversation below.
Click the link below, not the picture above
And for boaters and swimmers, a good article on understanding and avoiding the potential for physical drowning see: https://www.soundingsonline.com/voices/drowning-doesnt-look-like-drowning
No comments:
Post a Comment