Life With Out Fear

It is good to have warnings. Without warnings, life would be incredibly treacherous. We would live in constant fear and suspicion. I enjoy that fact that when I pick up a bottle of air freshener, I am told to “use only as directed.” Furthermore, I am informed that if I concentrate and inhale the air freshener, the results “can be harmful or fatal.” Who among us, without warning, would know that something as simple as household air freshener could kill us? On the road, signs warn us about slippery surfaces, falling rocks, closed lanes, and my most favorite of time wasting inconveniences, road construction. When it is difficult to read signs, warnings from a friend can save one’s life. On a particularly dark night, I was driving with a group of friends in the country. We were headed to a farm to find lodging for the evening. Just past the house we were to stay at, the road was closed. If not warned, we would have driven off the side of a steep cliff. I truly doubt that we would have seen the tiny sign placed just before the end of the road.
Warnings do not always refer to danger or potential harm. Sometimes we are simply notified in advance of one’s arrival. In Luke 1:26-38, we read about a conversation between Mary and an angel. Mary is told she will give birth to the son of God. It doesn’t seem to take much to convince Mary of this miraculous birth. She accepts her fate and claims herself to be “The Lord’s servant”. While God does not ask us to give birth to and raise his son, he does tell us that we have potential. God tells us that we can become his children and enter in to heaven. All we need to do is accept this gift and recognize that we are God’s servants. With God as our guide, we can avoid potential pitfalls and live without dread of the hazards Satan constantly puts before us.

The Shape of a New Man

I’ve been putting a lot of thought in to Philippians 4:8-9. This passage contains a list of things that we need to think of and practice. If this list were to consume every man’s thoughts and actions, it would radically change the way the world operates. Instead, mankind often takes the low road. We do what is attractive, easiest, and what “feels good”. We soak up what is fed to us by the media and our peers. Not all of us struggle with maintaining the thoughts and actions that God desires in the same measure. However, we all face some type of conflict between our physical and spiritual selves. We are in a constant battle against Satan, who will try to destroy in any way possible.
Do we always do “whatever is right”? Do we serve God and treat others with love and respect? Are we pure, or do we allow ourselves to be tainted by the conversations we become involved in, the things we watch on television, the music we listen to, or the thoughts that turn us away from God? Are we noble, living superior lives, founded on high moral principles and ideals? We have to constantly ask ourselves tough questions. We need to step out in the world boldly proclaiming God’s presence through every aspect of who we are. Ephesians 4:22-25 says we must “put off the old man.”
If we think of ourselves as clay, we must then think of who models and forms the clay. Every time we support sinful acts either through participation or in ignorance, we allow ourselves to be shaped in a certain manner. We begin to fear what the world thinks of us and not what the “God of peace” wants us to be. Once shaped, it seems to take more work to repair the damage done than it would have been to avoid sin in the beginning. God has given us amazing potential. He wants to turn us in to new men and women. He wants to bless us with peace and joy, if we are willing to make changes and break free of sin.