Skip to main content

Unscathed and Safe

So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as it’s still God’s Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul. (Hebrews 3:12-14)

If someone were to tell me to "watch my step" I suddenly become very cautious about where I find my footing. Some things are just harder than others; some might catch us a little unaware. Sometimes we might get a little bunged up along the way - but trust me, it usually is not because we lacked the warnings! We likely just didn't heed them! God's plan is not to trip us up or wear us out on the journey, but to bring us to our next destination "unscathed" and "safe"! Satan doesn't want heaven filled - he wants hell filled! He wants companions in his eternal misery and doom - not a one of us escapes his attempts to trip us up or bring discouragement in our journey. "Misery loves company" - no one wants to really endure doom and gloom all by themselves! If we know there might just be some "unevenness" meant to trip us up - giving all manner of a lack of predictability to our journey - we might just prepare for the journey, be on alert as we travel this path, and be sensitive to the warnings posted!

God doesn't put obstacles in our way - he removes them! When we face obstacles in our path, it is either because we have put them there ourselves, or we are being challenged by the hosts of hell to not make the journey successfully. How do we put obstacles in our own path? It really isn't all that hard. We might not prepare for the journey ahead, thinking we can just launch out into the unknown. Preparation means we align our hearts and minds with the heart and mind of Christ - we get with him on the matter at hand, allowing him to point us in the right direction. There is a difference between asking for advice and then asking for direction. One is optional, the other gets us to the destination! Sometimes I think we treat God's warnings as "advice" rather than as imperatives in our lives - but whenever we do, we usually encounter some issue within the path!

The whole purpose of the challenge is to divert us from God - it is a detour. The detour he plans is designed to get us so off track we are basically lost in the process. The whole purpose of pathway challenges (according to God) is to grow us up in our dependence upon him to protect, provide, and promote us. He points out the hazards, reminding us to "watch our steps" - allowing him to "order" them - in order to protect us. He also desires to provide for us - keeping us well in the journey and focused on what is best for us in the process. All in all, he desires to "promote" us to a higher level of both dependence upon him and closeness to his heart. In turn, we become stronger men and women, exemplifying the character of Christ more and more with each step.

Sin's little compromises are the small pebbles we stumble upon - but we almost always are looking for the huge rocks in our path. The smallest pebble can turn the most unsuspecting ankle, causing unnecessary pain and suffering! We don't want to focus only on the big stuff in our path. We want to be aware of both. Most importantly, we want to help each other out with this "alertness" to the hazards in our path. This is what some refer to as holding each other accountable. In the most literal sense, it is one watching the steps of another, being alert to the smallest hazards, as well as the glaring boulders! We often don't see the little hazards - for we focus too far ahead in the path. One walking alongside can see the place we are about to walk better than we sometimes can - heeding their warning is often the very thing we need the most!

We all start out this Christian walk with the same "stuff" for the journey. God doesn't "slight" any of us and then "embellish" someone else. He loves all equally and unconditionally. He provides for all equally and abundantly. He responds to all equally and with absolute authority. The path may be different - but our provision and source are the same. I cannot overlook the importance of "companions" in this journey. No man or woman is truly an island unto themselves. We might think we can walk alone but trust me on this - I have tried it and it doesn't work. I need the one next to me in this journey! I need their constant reminders and their warnings. In fact, God put them there just for this purpose - so why not embrace their presence as a provision directly from the hand of God? Just sayin!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What did obedience cost Mary and Joseph?

As we have looked at the birth of Christ, we have considered the fact he was born of a virgin, with an earthly father so willing to honor God with his life that he married a woman who was already pregnant.  In that day and time, a very taboo thing.  We also saw how the mother of Christ was chosen by God and given the dramatic news that she would carry the Son of God.  Imagine her awe, but also see her tremendous amount of fear as she would have received this announcement, knowing all she knew about the time in which she lived about how a woman out of wedlock showing up pregnant would be treated.  We also explored the lowly birth of Jesus in a stable of sorts, surrounded by animals, visited by shepherds, and then honored by magi from afar.  The announcement of his birth was by angels - start to finish.  Mary heard from an angel (a messenger from God), while Joseph was set at ease by a messenger from God on another occasion - assuring him the thing he was about to do in marrying Mary wa

A brilliant display indeed

Love from the center of who you are ; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply ; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. (Romans 12:9-12) Integrity and Intensity don't seem to fit together all that well, but they are uniquely interwoven traits which actually complement each other. "Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it." God asks for us to have some intensity (fervor) in how we love (from the center of who we are), but he also expects us to have integrity in our love as he asks us to be real in our love (don't fake it). They are indeed integral to each other. At first, we may only think of integrity as honesty - some adherence to a moral code within. I believe there is a little more to integrity than meets the eye. In the most literal sense,

Do me a favor

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (Philippians 2:1-4) Has God's love made ANY difference in your life? What is that difference? Most of us will likely say that our lives were changed for the good, while others will say there was a dramatic change. Some left behind lifestyles marked by all manner of outward sin - like drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, or even thievery. There are many that will admit the things they left behind were just a bit subtler - what we can call inward sin - things like jealousy,