“So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves.” Romans 14:22
Our Church has the honorable opportunity and duty of standing on the corner of a MAJOR street corner and holding signs proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We do this twice a week, for an hour each time, and have done so for almost a year. This last time I came VERY close to my own zapacution!
Because we have been there so often, and because MUCH of the traffic is the same with folks commuting to or from work, they KNOW WHO we are and WHY we are there. Standing there last Friday, a big plastic bag came slowly blowing by me. For an inanimate object it appeared casual and unassuming! It was doing a good job of it too, because I almost didn’t notice that it was just plain old trash! That is until that ‘still small voice’ called to me from the inside! “Pick it up!”
Had I been a drug dealer or a prostitute plying my trade on the corner, my actions and personal presence would have loudly stated to passers-by that I ‘personally’ APPROVED both behaviors. My actions would have advertised the condition of my heart. Because there are laws against those things, I could have been condemned by a Judge for breaking those laws! Ignoring sauntering trash bags is NOT a crime! Or is it?
I am not my own. I have been bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20)! Because of that fact, my Master has the right to ask anything of me that matters to HIM. Within a few nanoseconds, and as only the Holy Spirit can do, the complete courtroom transcript was opened before my heart and I understood my guilt… before I had even caused an infraction! I reached down and grabbed the guilty evidence and put it in it’s place!
There would have been NO excuse. Everyone watching ‘the Christian’ on the corner as he watched trash roll by could have made a somewhat legitimate claim that Christians are hypocrites! And even though we are, our Master prefers we not blatantly advertise it! ESPECIALLY since He is working hard at eradicating all SORTS of trash from MY life.
The older I get the more easily I can see the tiny stuff. Today’s Bible verse opens another whole area of condemnation that, before Jesus, I didn’t even KNOW about. When I ‘let go’ or ‘ignore’ evidence that typically labels an infraction, my personal APPROVAL condemns me and ZAPS me ‘as if’ I actually DID the thing! And here’s the WORST part! It labels my MASTER as a co-conspirator! Now THAT is some NASTY TRASH!
What is God trying to clean up in YOUR life?
