In other words "Keep moving. Keep sailing!" Don't ever stop. Don't lower your sails for one minute. Why? Because darkness is pursuing you.
So, what is this darkness? It is anything that is not light. And God is light. Anything that is not of God is darkness. In Romans 13, Paul describes works of darkness as revelry, drunkenness, lewdness, strife and envy. But darkness is not just doing wrong. Darkness is a force. It is evil.
- Ephesians 6 tells us there are spiritual beings who rule the darkness.
- In Colossians, we discover that the darkness is powerful.
- In 1st Peter, darkness is described as having chains to bind people.
- In 2nd Peter that darkness is described as total blackness.
- We are told throughout the gospels that outer darkness is equivalent to hell.
- In 1st John we are told that if you are in the darkness, you can't see anything. You can't see the truth or even where the light is.
There is an evil force following us, chasing us in fact! Sounds a bit scary to me! So what do we do? How do we outrun it? Simple. We keep moving in and with the light.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12
Christianity is not a spectator sport. You don't say a prayer, get on the ship and then lollygag around and watch other people hoist sails and haul lines. You can not remain stagnant. You must progress, move forward, learn, grow, allow the Holy Spirit to guide, direct, convict you, change your heart. This involves more than Sunday church and reading a devotional, saying a couple of prayers during the week. This is a lifetime commitment to a deep abiding relationship with God. It means loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, body, and strength.
If you get lazy in your walk with God, darkness will creep up on you. It is subtle, slow like an insidious cancer. You won't notice it at first but after awhile you'll see a change in your attitude, in the things you think about and say. Your desires will change. You'll slip back into your old ways. You won't pray as often, think about God very often, or read your Bible. And before you know it, you're treading water in the midst of a storm and your ship is sailing away.
So, hoist those sails, haul those lines, scrub those decks and commune with the Captain of your soul daily. Allow Him to guide your ship, teach you, lead you, love you. That's the only way to stay out of the darkness!
Mon Nov 7th,
ReplyDelete"Morning, MaryLu."
Excellent post today ! I appreciated you saying: "Christianity is not a spectator sport." It's daily (and hourly) involvement, commitment, passion, practise, and change in one's heart. Do I do all of that, daily ? No, I don't. And when I get "side-tracked" by life's concerns and troubles ... I suddenly can find myself -- drifting away. Not purposely nor intentionally .... it's as you said ... it creeps upon you gradually.
With the many and various distractions in life, I can become stagnant before I know it. It doesn't take much .... and the ship is sailing away ... without me, so to speak. (Darkness 'feels' so empty inside.)
Thanks for all of these precious reminders, MaryLu. Time to get back down to business ... with the "Captain of my soul" !
Take care, and, God Bless,
In Him, Brenda Hurley
Casting Crowns has this song that put it this way: "Its a slow fade when you give yourself away." It couldn't be more true. I see so many Christians "sleeping", being couch potatoes while the enemy is slowly taking our American rights away, attacking Christianity, and so much more. It makes me so mad sometimes. I want to shout at them, yelling for them to wake up! Just because we gave our life to Jesus, it doesn't mean that life gets easy. Its quite the opposite, in fact. The fight isn't over yet-and won't be until Christ's ultimate return. We need to vigilent warriors for Christ and keep close to His word. Oh I feel like I could preach on this all day...:)
ReplyDeleteBrenda, I think we are all guilty of becoming stagnant...of taking our great salvation for granted. It's human nature. And of course the devil is constantly trying to distract us! What a battle we are in!
ReplyDeleteEszter, I couldn't agree more! Christianity is a battle, yet so many Christians sit behind the lines. If they only knew that once they got into the battle, their lives would be full and adventurous! You preach it, girl!
Thanks, MaryLu.
ReplyDeleteI really needed this post. I've felt that dark power creeping up on me. It does sound scary. And to a non-believer, fictious. To me that's even scarrier. They have NO idea what's heading their way.
Does Satan like to come after us more than those who do not follow Christ?
Yes, yes! I believe that like any good general, Satan attacks the forces that pose the most threat to him. So, he goes after Christians who are making a difference for God! If you're on the front lines in God's army, you're a target. I don't think Satan cares much for those who don't believe in Jesus. They aren't a threat to him so he mostly leaves them alone. So, if you're feeling the darkness swarming in.. you are probably doing something for God that makes the enemy mad. But you don't have to fear him as long as you stay in the light!
ReplyDelete