Just who do we think they are?

Just who do we think they are?

Notice, I did not say, "Just who do they think that they are?" I purposely replaced the "they" with "we" to make a point.

You see, we often give people too much power in our lives. We think too much about what people might think, or how we would be treated differently if we would follow God with our whole hearts.

Sometimes we don't even connect our actions with the fear of what others might think. It has become so much a part of us that we don't even stop to consider it.

But God doesn't want us to be so "self-conscious". He wants us to be GOD-conscious! He wants us to take our lives apart and break them down so that we are certain we are considering Him first, above all else.

He calls us to "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." 2 Cor. 6:17. In Titus 2:14 and 1 Peter 2:9 we are called "peculiar". Just for fun, here are some of the synonyms of the word "peculiar":

uncomformable, exceptional; abnormal, abnormous; anomalous, anomalistic; out of order, out of place, out of keeping, out of tune, out of one's element; irregular, arbitrary; teratogenic; lawless, informal, aberrant, stray, wandering, wanton; peculiar, exclusive, unnatural, eccentric, egregious; out of the beaten track, off the beaten track, out of the common, out of the common run; beyond the pale of, out of the pale of; misplaced; funny. (adapted from Roget's Thesaurus)

In an age when we are all supposed to be "cutting edge" and "relevant" to a culture that has pulled farther and farther away from Biblical Christianity, we find that we are having to make some choices that put us at odds with many of our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

This is not new, there have been challenges like this in every age. Will we conform, or will we be transformed? Will we be willing to obey God, even if we look "different", or will we be intimidated and value our own lives?

Jesus wants us to follow, to keep our hands to the plow and not look back. With graciousness and humility of mind and heart, we must move in the direction of the Holy Spirit, with the power of the Malachi 4: 5-6, no matter what the opinion of even those we love and respect. For some of us it has meant the loss of close friendships, for others fellowship, for others the loss of relatives.

But we continue. We stay home with our children, we home educate them, we have oodles and oodles of them, and we even dress differently!

The accusations are flying. Are we irresponsible? Rebellious? Proud and boastful? Brainless? Testing God?

No, we are responsible, since we don't consider it a light thing that He has done to buy us with His precious blood. If we are rebellious, it is not against God; we rebel only against a culture that would put us in peril of our souls and the souls of the precious ones He has placed in our lives. If we boast, it is only in the power of God to take plain and common people and do tremendous and marvelous things. If we are "brainless", it is only because we don't trust our own minds, but instead choose to take on the "mind of Christ". We don't test God, who is the giver of life and the owner of the whole earth, and He is more than capable of completing the work He begins in us and our families, since it is by His Word and His leading that we have embarked on this journey.

Those who say they love God are always given tests and choices. When faced with bowing or burning, the three servants of God in Daniel, chapter 3, said that, even if God would not save them, they would stand. Then, after they had been thrown into the hottest flames, Jesus met with them and walked with them through the fire.

What we are facing in our country is nothing compared to the persecution that is facing the church elsewhere. What is the worst thing that can happen to us here--perhaps someone will be angry with us or not like us--how silly we are! There are worse things than suffering loneliness or disapproval. Even so, we can be assured that we are not alone; that the Savior is visiting and walking with us.

I leave you with the words spoken by Joshua to the Israelites who said,

Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Sherry