The Plumbline

It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. (Ephesians 2:1-2 MSG) Whatever came of our 'old man'? No, not your father, your old nature - the one that used to find it so easy to run toward sin. It wasn't hard for us to compromise and choose sin because we allowed the world and all its enticements to tell us how to live our lives. The loudest voice received our attention - the 'coolest' or 'newest' fad took us in. We chose to listen to the advice of worldly counselors instead of the voice of God. No wonder we fell so easily into the traps the enemy of our souls set to ensnare us! What we fill our minds with eventually becomes the very things that lead to a...

  Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence him. With them alone he shares the secrets of his promises. My eyes are ever looking to the Lord for help, for he alone can rescue me. (Psalm 25:14-15) The truths of God's Word are not easily understood by those who have yet to say 'yes' to Jesus. These truths are opened to us as we walk alongside him and learn of him. Don't friends walk alongside each other, giving a little of themselves here and there, each investing in the relationship? Do you think God would expect anything less of those who enter into relationship with him? Reverence him - hold him in the highest regard, but not like an idol on a pedestal. We reveal this reverence by our obedience to his Word - what he asks of us, we do. We don't baulk at it but embrace it as truth that has one purpose - to set us free. The secrets of God's promises are understood best where purposeful obedience is the choice. Ellen G. White puts it this way: "G...