| A Message "How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:103 -105 |
Who's Watching? 1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1,2 The question is not can you but should you. You might have the body to wear tight revealing clothing but should you? Are you projecting a good image? Being the best representative for Jesus? We are called to be His representative. (We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. 2 Cor. 5:20) Smoking isn't called sin so puffing away is perfectly permissible but should you? Drinking also falls under that gray area. What about steroids? Whose going to know? Everyone will. You may not think so but pushing the envelope is not good for anyone including yourself. Not you and not those around you that are watching. Once you start compromising in one area, it becomes easier and easier to accept less than godly habits. The next thing you know you are snared. Caught in a trap that is weighing your life down and pushing you farther from God. (34"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." Luke 21:34-36) " Then, there are those who are newer in there walk that are watching you. You are discipling whether you know it or not, whether you want to or not. If people know you are a Christian they are either looking to you for example or for an open door to criticize. (14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. 16Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; 17for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. 21It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Romans 14:14-21) So here it is again, we can, but should we? Is it worth it? In this life with it's rush and complexity, make it easy on yourself. Lay down the things that entangle and ensnares. In the end, they are just things, just things we put in our body that will fall away and be useless. They do not effect the eternal. (12All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.) ("It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love" Galatians 5:1, 13). Some other interesting articles on the same subject: Is Drinking alcohol a sin? CBN.com http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/cbnteachingsheets/faq_alcohol.asp In a country where there are at least twenty million problem drinkers, and millions of others who use alcohol to excess, Christians just cannot stand by and say, "I can drink alcoholic beverages because the Bible does not say not to." My conduct should be governed by the law of love. If I love my brother, I will not cause him to stumble and be offended. I personally refrain from drinking alcohol for that reason. There is another reason for not drinking. The believer's body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is hard to think that we could pour liquor into the temple of God without defiling it. Liquor destroys blood vessels and brain cells. Long-term consumption of alcoholic beverages can cause cirrhosis of the liver, lead to delirium tremens, and make for habitual alcoholism. Alcohol and Other Substance Abuse By J. Steven Lang http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/cbnteachingsheets/promises_substance_abuse.asp |