There are things that Christians, including myself, need to wake up about. We get into what some refer to as "the motions" and we like it. We can come to church, throw some spare change into the plate, stay awake the entire service, and then head home to our comfortable lives. We start focusing on this and that and we fail to realize that we are slowly slipping into a stagnate existence. When we are walking with the Lord sometimes things get uncomfortable. He pushes and prods, pulls and tugs, until we are unsatisfied with the way we are living, or the way that things are being done, to the point that we make a stand for Him. I don't think that Jesus was ever comfortable unless you change the view of human comfort. He was urgently seeking to further His kingdom and make a way for us to have an eternal relationship with Him. He spread His message night and day. Sometimes it was popular, other times not so popular. That had nothing to do with His sense of urgency. He lived as God when it was comfortable and uncomfortable.
Have you ever been numb? I mean really numb. One day I was outside when it was freezing cold and I couldn't feel my hands. I thought I noticed blood on something but I didn't know where it was coming from. I brushed it off and kept doing whatever it was that I was doin. I kept noticing more and more fresh blood until I realized that my hand was bleeding. My hand was so numb that I never felt to wound or the blood coming out of my hand. When we go through our daily activities and lose sight of living everyday for Christ we become numb. Our life starts to bleed from every different area and we don't even realize it. We don't understand what is wrong. Sin slowly creeps into our lives and chills us until we become so numb we don' realize the death that it ultimately brings. In the Christian life we are supposed to not only be uncomfortable (in a sense, don't take that out of context) we are supposed to be completely alive, not numb. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." We have a comfortably numb self. We slip through life chasing after meaningless things, relationships, or ideals and we can't feel it when everything starts bleeding. When we cry out to God and confess Him as our Savior, Galatians says that we crucify that part of us with Christ. Christ lives in us. What a powerful statement. You, brother or sister in Christ, have Christ living in you. Live in a manner worthy of your calling. Did you catch the word "life/live" in that verse? I don't understand why we settle for numbness when Christ desires for us to live a true life. A life that is so uncomfortable that it causes us to do things that echo through the halls of eternity. The power of Christ has called you into a life that is free from the chains of sin. You are so blessed. Do not be comfortable in those blessings. Rather, remember your calling. How would your life change today if you truly believed that Christ is living in you?
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4 comments:
This might be a long story, but o well - it's on topic...
speaking of being numb: Do you know how an eskimo kills a wolf?
He dips a knife in blood and lets it freeze on the knife. He dips it again and lets another layer freeze. He does this over, and over, and over, and over until its like a big blood popsicle. Then he sticks the knife in the snow (blade facing up) in an area where wolves are known to live. The wolf then smells it - but when he comes by, it's game over! Here's why:
The wolf will start licking the knife. He will start licking faster and faster. However, the cold soon makes his tongue numb - he can't even feel it. He' just so pumped to be tasting the blood! Soon, after going through all the layers he gets down to the blade. But he's licking so fast with his numb tongue that he doesn't even realize when he cuts his own tongue. All that he notices it that the blood is even more tasteful and its warm! He just keeps licking, even faster now! Slowly, he becomes weak, so to try and gain strength he licks even harder, even faster -trying to eat and gain energy. However, it is too late, the loss of blood becomes so great that He collapses in the cold and dies from the loss of blood.
> Wow this is really long, but I think its right on par with the post. Being numb can KILL YOU. We think sin is ok, we keep getting deeper and we don't even know when we are cut. It would do us well to daily ask God in what areas we are numb to him and ask for a fresh sense of life from Him...
excellent post.
Stephen - Great post. Right on track. Your posts always excite me. They are always challenging, insightful, and encouraging.
Taylor - Great comment. It certainly added to the whole concept of being "numb". Where did you hear that?
what a sobering reminder to all of us. thanks for the post.
that story is all over the place... (not sure where the original source is from)
Although, I first learned about it from a Josh McDowell youth devotion.
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