Are you disregarding your safety?

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

None of us is able to argue that we are 'without sin', though some will say they are 'good people', their 'goodness' is not going to stand up in the presence of God's holiness. Obedience is always toward a 'force' of some kind. We can be obedient to the force of nature - looking at the warning signs of impending storm and sheltering against it. We could be obedient to the law of the land - driving the speed limit, paying our taxes on time, and not trespassing on private land. We also can be obedient to our urges - doing as we want, when we want, wherever we want. There is an 'inner force' each of us has to deal with - one that might just steer us away from the holiness of God and toward those things that are displeasing to the will of God.

By our very nature - that kind of says it all. We have a sin nature - one that picks and chooses when we will be 'good' or 'bad' based on the circumstances, our inner willpower, or the emotions the action evokes within us. The spirit at work within us if we have not invited Christ into our lives isn't a 'holy' spirit - it is the spirit of this world (Satan's realm). We might not think of ourselves as 'evil' or even 'vile', but our actions are controlled by something other than the Holy Spirit. When we say 'yes' to Jesus, inviting him to rule over our lives, we are inviting the Holy Spirit to take over that place within us that used to be controlled by the spirit of this world. 

Now that the Holy Spirit is in control, we have a change of 'influence' and the 'force' we submit to is different. We feel pulled toward actions that are honestly holy and away from those that are merely 'good' by this world's standards. Someone in this world deemed those actions 'good' - such as obeying the speed limit. Everything within us doesn't see the sense in driving 25 miles per hour down a country road that is unpaved. Yet, someone chose to declare the stretch of road a 25 mile per hour limit because it was 'good' for the vehicle, the residents along that roadway, or some unseen hazard that would require us to stop quickly if it suddenly appeared in the roadway. 

When God enters our life, we are made holy - our choices change. The desire to 'drive' our life a certain way is defined by his will - because he knows what hazards will be in our 'roadway' of life and what is truly 'good' for us. We may not see ourselves as unholy to begin with, but the more we see how we have been disregarding our 'safety' through the choices we made before his Spirit entered our lives, the more we will welcome his Spirit's direction. Just sayin!