Saturday, September 7, 2013

Life Lessons, part 1

      Watching someone change from feisty & vital to lethargic & numb is never an easy process. All the time I was enduring the process, I kept asking God what He was trying to teach us. While He never decided to answer with audible words or even words of wisdom & discernment, I did make some important connections that looking back I can appreciate.
      Lesson 1 - Don't ignore the smallest details.  Major illness can start with the tiniest symptoms. While that should not make us turn into raging hypochondriacs, we should always be aware of changes that occur. Most of the time they don't mean much but awareness catches even the rarest of symptoms. Just like in the spiritual sense...when we become aware of tiny changes in our desire to go to church or our need for Christian fellowship, we had better do a self-check on our spiritual health. Small changes in attitude can fester into raging diseases of apathy & disinterest. A lifetime habit can easily be broken, especially when our enemy gets involved through small incidences of hurt feelings, self-pity, or bitterness. Don't allow anything like that to remain. Take care of it with forgiveness, spiritual infusions of worship & prayer, & increased fellowship.
      Lesson 2 - Training up a child is not something to be taken lightly. As parents, we have all been challenged with the Word to make sure our children have solid spiritual foundations. The importance of that was made vivid to me during the final days of my mother-in-law's life. She could no longer react, speak more than a few words, or even seem to focus. One late evening, as I was playing worship music to calm her spirit, I went over to turn down the volume & when I turned back to her, she was mouthing the words to "How Great Thou Art". She had definitely not been in church since her childhood & I'm sure had not heard that song in over 70 years, but its comfort & peace were still there in her mind when she needed it most.  As parents, & grandparents, we have the privilege of teaching our children God's amazing attributes & ways. We can't depend only on Sunday School or Christian friends. We need to be intentional about playing Christian music at home or in the car, reading Scripture & sharing Bible stories as families, & praying together. Even if our children seem indifferent, the Word gets in their spirits & stays. Don't let another day go by without Jesus in your world & daily life.
      Lesson 3 - Things that seem innocent can be deadly.  Mom had a long-time struggle with Diabetes that eventually took her life. When talking about it with others, I was amazed at how many people were unaware that it can be that serious. Most people just think it's a matter of reducing sugar or perhaps, in major cases, taking insulin injections. Unfortunately, there are tremendously more serious consequences in ignoring or minimizing the disease. Loss of limbs & gangrene poisoning are not things we like to consider, but they are very real possibilities when the disease goes unchecked. Sin & worldliness are much the same. We ignore the changing values & worldly standards of behavior blasted to us through our computers and televisions. We rationalize & justify our attitudes toward these changes as "being tolerant" or enlightened. We accept societal norms rather than standing strong on Biblical principles. We need to re-examine our reactions to sin. Do swear words still cause you to cringe or have you become immune to their impact? Does the sight of gore & extreme violence turn your stomach or are you fascinated by it? When viewing or hearing about crimes perpetrated against the innocent are you outraged or indifferent? Do your Biblical values & spiritual foundations affect what you listen to or watch? I am not being judgmental with this. These are questions every Christian should be asking of themselves & taking the answers seriously. If a stranger lived in my house for a few days, would he know that I was a Christian by my choices of television programming, music, leisure activity, & lifestyle? Since we are to represent God in our world, perhaps it's time to take a little self-assessment. Innocent though it may seem at first, ignoring worldliness which is infiltrating our lives can be deadly to us & to the world that we are supposed to be influencing. And, by the way, God holds us responsible for not showing the sinner his error. If you don't think so, read chapter 3 or 33 of Ezekiel. Ouch!
      There are other lessons that God reminded me of through these last months, which I will write about at a future time. For this blog, I have had enough of a challenge...& hopefully you have too!  Blessings...

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