If you were
to look at my truck, you’d see a cross on the tailgate, a cross hanging from
the rearview mirror, a bible in the backseat and few Christian related material
and media. Walk in my home you’ll see a few bibles, scripture and crosses on
the wall and many Christian related material and media. Yet at times, I feel I
should be arrested for impersonating a consistent Christian.
Galatians
2:14 - But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of
the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live
like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like
Jews?"
In this
section of Scripture and specifically, Galatians 2:1-14 the Apostle Paul was in
Jerusalem. He analyzed the situation there and realized Peter and the others
were not walking straightforward. They were walking in contrary to the biblical
truths in the Gospel. They were being inconsistent.
For the
longest time I have been trying to figure out how others see me. I shouldn’t do
this because all that really matters is how God sees me…with Love and Hope. We
all do this though. It can be as simple as saying how do I look today? Or do
you think I can do this? I have heard a word spoken to describe me but I never
really quite believed them till I had completely fallen and was struggling to
get up. That word was “Inconsistent”.
That word hit
me like a ton of bricks. I lost sleep; I struggled; I even tried to put it out
of my mind but it just came back…consistently. The next day when I got out of
bed and went through my morning rituals, I researched the word inconsistent. “Holy
Adjectives, Batman…they were right!” I
am inconsistent.
Wikipedia
defines Inconsistent as: (copied right from the Wiki page):
1.
in·con·sist·ent
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I’d like to
add a bullet point to that though – 4. Not walking according to God’s Word.
I read
somewhere that there are 3 kinds of Christians: Believers, Unbelievers and
Make-Believers. We all should know what a believer and an unbeliever are but
the Make-Believers influence the 2 first types with their inconsistencies. It only takes one by the way. Most of the
devastating plagues of our history were started by one person bringing it to
a different part of the world.
Same goes
with believers, one inconsistent or disloyal believer can hurt the whole
church. In 1 Corinthians 12 and in
verse 26 Paul states… "...if one member suffers, all the members suffer
with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it."
Have you
ever broken a bone in your foot? The bones in your feet are tiny in caparison
to other bones in your body. If you ever broken a toe or even a bone that
sits on top of your foot…you limp, need crutches or a wheel chair – it affects
the whole body!!! Ecclesiastes 9:18 states – “Wisdom is better than weapons
of war, but one sinner destroys much good.”
The verses that
really got to me is in Romans Chapter 2 verses 18 thru 24:
“…if you
know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by
the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide
for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of
little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and
truth, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach
against stealing, do you steal? You
who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You
who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you
dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed
among the Gentiles because of you.”
Then I
looked into the why. Why am I inconsistent? Proverbs 29:25 “The fear (pride) of man
brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.”
Pride…need
I say more?
A friend of
mine owns property in the Keystone area of Tampa. His property sits on a lake
but to get to it, you have to drive down a long road because other people own
property that surrounds it. He doesn’t own this road but the other property
owners allow him to use this bit of land so he can access his home. When we
are less than 100 % Christians, the Devil is using that same type of access
road to get to us. God allows us access to him as long as we stay on the
right road. We get into trouble when we are inconsistent with the access roads
we travel. Inconsistent when we allow the snares in our lives free travel
down these access roads.
The point I’m
making here is we need to guard our hearts: walk consistent to his word; and
walk circumspectly. This means we watch for the snares of life and not just
walk blindly. When we see or find a
snare we should look for an opportunity to honor and glorify Christ. We must be careful where we step but walk
upright and honest.
I am
currently reading a book about life and golf called, “The Mulligan”. As I was
reading the book this morning I thought back to the time where I met a very
special golfer…he was blind. I had asked him how in the world could he play
golf blind. He simply explained the caddy would describe distance, hazards
and set him up for the shot. Then the caddy would go out in front of him and
ring a bell to help with aiming. I was truly amazed at this.
Then the
golfer asked if I’d like to play a game of golf with him which I refused
because frankly, I’d beat the pants off him. He simply stated, “We’ll play for
100 dollars if you’d like.” I was still doubtful but I agreed. The blind
golfer then said, “Meet me here at 11:00……..PM!”
We all walked
in the dark at one time but it’s the light of Christ that should guide us. We
need to consistently walk in his steps and light.
Ephesians 4:17 This I say, therefore, and
testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the
Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind.”
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