What kind of world do you live in? Is it a busy one filled with obligations of family and work, or one with generous amounts of margin? Is it a kind one, where the people around you are good and you feel blessed, or a harsh one of deprivation or even abuse—because the human experience varies, sometimes greatly, depending on who you are and into what circumstances you were born into. Yet regardless of what your particular experience looks like, God gives us choices and asks us to make good ones.
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21 NIV)
Every situation requires choices, and we can typically make better ones or poorer ones. Some are obvious—do I hurt another or not, for example—but even the choices that do not seem as straightforward can have repercussions. The point is that in everything we do, we are not to give into or be influenced by the forces around us pulling us into their particular evil vortex, but rather, resist these and act according to the Holy Spirit’s leading.
What do I mean? Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is definitely easier to be “good” under certain circumstances than others. As a mother with very young children, I stayed at home. We didn’t have much money, but—at least in the earlier years between naps and quiet times—I had the luxury of more time to read, both the Bible and other good books, and my world wasn’t over-encumbered with the distractions of outside work and the ensuing over-fatigue that can come with it.
Now as an empty-nester trying to get our last child through college I am working full time outside of the home, and feel myself being sucked into the particular exigencies of my existence, sometimes just being able to sleep enough to actually function. This in itself is not necessarily wrong—it is the practical reality of many—but we do have to be highly protective of our fellowship with Christ: we have to fight our physical urges to let it lapse, whether because of excess fatigue, the absence of sufficient “me” time, or the influences of the world around us.
Even when we are busy earning a living—or money for a college tuition—God still holds us accountable for how we budget our time; Christ’s command to “remain in Me” is every bit as important to me now, as it was when I didn’t work outside the home—perhaps more so, if that were possible!
Why? Because even though our individual walks—our particular circumstances—differ, we are all moving closer and closer to the moment when we turn in our life’s “test;” when we can no longer change the answers. Not only does it matter that we remain close to God in Jesus Christ because we love Him—because we don’t want to face a single day or even moment without Him—but if that’s not a strong enough motivator, let the reality of final accountability sink in. It is coming for each of us; every funeral we attend attests to that fact and none escapes it.
That is why God’s message to us in His Word is repetitive in this sense—why He keeps telling us, through so many different human mouthpieces, to repent now while there is still an opportunity to do so.
It is why Jesus told the parable of the seed that fell on different soil—some onto good soil that produced good results; others onto rock where it never took root, or among thorns that ended up choking it so there was no fruit.
That’s the case when there is too much of everything else around us—when the demands of our particular situation threaten to drown out and make fellowship with God difficult or even seemingly impossible. And this is the moment when—just as when you realize you’re drowning and you start desperately fighting to get back up to the surface for air—you begin fighting for your relationship with Christ, to prioritize it and maintain it. Because closeness with God is not just for people with excess time; it is for each and every one of us—but we must value it and fight to maintain it, just as we would any human relationship we value.
So I fight the impulses of life that pull me away from Christ. I fight the pull of greed or sinful ambition; I fight to spend more time in His Word and prayer; I fight to resist the pull to live and act doing “what seems right in my own eyes;” I fight to cling to Jesus, God the Son my Lord, my Savior from sin.
And I want others to follow me. I want to be able to say “follow me as I follow Christ” as Paul said. But I will not turn aside even if others give up; my love for Jesus my God is not based on a popularity contest; I do not follow Him because that is the road everyone else is taking. I follow Him because He made me and I am going back to Him some day—because He exists and the decision to follow Him is the most important one anyone will ever make. And I will continue to pray for those I love, that God would give them the sight to also understand, follow Him and be saved from their sins.
Dear Lord God,
Thank You that in Christ You give us “hope, and a future;” please give us “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him [Jesus Christ]: [that] the eyes of…[our] understanding…[may be] enlightened; that…[we] may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power [toward us]…who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.” (Ephesians 1:17-19 KJV) Amen
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