There was something I heard at training camp a few months ago that has stuck with me. In regards to what’s ok and what’s not ok on the race they said it’s not a matter of right or wrong, (which can be very legalistic) but simply, it's a matter of life and death. That one statement blew me away and it has continued to resonate in my spirit ever since then. It has completely changed how I view so many things. How profound that truth is. It’s not about legalism and doing all the right things because I “should” be doing them. That is a lie I believed much of my life, but now I see it’s about grace and choosing life. There are things in my life, that if I choose to do them, they bring death; spiritual, physical, or emotional. Then there are other things in my life, if I choose to do them, they bring life; spiritual, physical, or emotional as well. It’s pretty simple when you think about it that way. It frees up the time that I used to stress over what was right or wrong and allows me to focus on the Lord and to move forward with what He has for me. To show you what I’m getting at, here are a few everyday examples…
If I want to get in shape…I exercise and eat well.
If I want to go on a trip…I have to leave my house.
If I am thirsty…I get something to drink.
If I want to live…I have to eat.
simple truths.
There is the simple law of sowing and reaping in play here. One Saturday during June, before I left for the race, I spent the day in the garden with my daddy. The Lord gave me an analogy that day that perfectly illustrates this point. My job that day in the garden was to sow peas. So I sowed peas and I knew in several weeks peas would be ready to harvest. I never for one second wondered what would emerge out the soil in those 2 rows where I planted them. Now, my daddy had already planted several things; corn, tomatoes, okra, zucchini and squash. You know how I know what he planted? It was because I saw it growing. It was because I saw the fruit on the vine. He also showed me that in order for there to be a crop, somethings have to happen first. The ground has to be tilled, the seed has to be planted, the garden has to be watered and tended and kept free of weeds, and the fruit has to be harvested in season, when its ripe. Yeah… we can't make it grow, only God can do that, but there are still things that we are called to do. That beautiful, sunny day that I spent in the garden with my wonderful earthly father, my heavenly Father showed me the simplicity of the kingdom law of sowing and reaping. so…
The same is true with spiritual things. If you want a certain outcome, then there are certain things that have to happen first. I’m not going to plant corn and expect peas as my outcome. That would be silly. Neither am I going to spend my time in worldly things and expect to grow in spiritual things.
“Why don’t I feel like I hear from the Lord?… Then I find myself playing some silly game on my kindle or seeing what messages I have on facebook instead of spending time with the Lord. How can I hear from Him if I don’t spend any time listening.”
“Why do I continue to fall into the same sins? Maybe because I’m choosing to put myself in the same old situations, or because I choose to think about things in the same way I have always thought about them. Why do I continue to do the same things and expect a different outcome? It doesn’t make sense.”
We have to wake up to the scheme of the enemy. He has blinded us to these simple truths, but we have made it so easy for him. If we want to overcome the enemy in this area we have to start believing the Word of God and His promises and not what the world says. We have to choose to listen to what God's Word says to be true rather than what we feel to be true.
"…blessed are those who keep my ways….blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. for whoever find me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord; but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate me love death" proverbs 8:32-26
"I will never forget your precepts, for by them You have given me life." Psalm 119:93
"Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine" Proverbs 3:9-10
"…Keep sound wisdom and discretion; so they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck. Then you will walk safely in your way, and your foot will not stumble." Proverbs 3:21-23
"and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting" Psalm 139:24
So, if I want to be filled with the spirit and walk in victory and not defeat…then I have to desire the Lord and choose Him over the things of the world. If I want to know Him more… then I have to pursue Him, spend time with Him, listen to Him. If I want His blessing, the bible says I have to be obedient and LOVE His word… meditate on it day and night.
So… this isn’t about legalism and things that I “should” be doing as a “good Christian”. It really is a matter of choosing life or choosing death. If I want life, I have to choose things that give life. I have to choose the things of the Lord. If I want death, then I am free to choose sin, because we are free to choose, but the bible is clear that sooner or later death is the consequence of sin. So where does grace come in with this you might ask… Well as my squad leader Joel pointed out a few days ago…Grace trains us in Righteousness, it is in no way an excuse to keep on sinning.
Like Paul points out in Romans 6:1-2 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?"
So that got me to thinking and I have one more analogy for you. Imagine you are locked in the stocks in a nasty, dark prison….
Someone brings a key. It has the word grace inscribed on it. The key opens the lock to your chains. The chains that hold you in sin. The chains that keep you bound to failure. The guard comes and unlocks those chains with grace and then you take that key (of grace) from him and begin to put the chains back on and lock yourself back into sin. It doesn’t make any sense. We cannot use grace as an excuse to go on sinning, but rather it is our only key to freedom from it. It trains us in the way of righteousness. So I encourage us to walk in the freedom given by grace and Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, but use that freedom to choose life, and not death.
