One Day's Difference

It's curious how quickly things can turn around in a person's life. Don't get me wrong--I'd be a fool to claim that the fight is over. But today seems a little brighter, and I find I have more resolve to do that which God wants me to do.

Yesterday was a little rough. I essentially finished class around 12 and proceeded to do NOTHING productive for the rest of the day. I regret that. But today is a new day, and I will do what I can to heed God's instructions better.

Sometimes I wonder if I focus on hearing God's voice too much, but I have this belief (founded in the Bible) that if we keep our eyes on Him, the rest follows. Not praying enough? Focus on God. Struggling with habitual sin? Focus on God. Wondering how you can share the gospel with your coworker/fellow student? Focus on God.

In Sunday school, the big joke used to be that every question could be answered with "Pray and read your Bible." It's striking how true that is. Prayer is direct contact with God, and the Bible is concrete, infallible advice from Him. If ever someone wanted to hear God's direction, that would be the way to do it.

1 John has been hitting me hard lately. For those of us who are struggling with habitual sin, that book is a great way to be confronted with its severity--and its consequences. John has a very logical sound to his writing: "He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed reamins in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God." (1 John 3:8-9)

Not only does he state that if you sin, you are of the devil, but he emphasizes it with the contrapositive in the next verse: if you are of God, you do not sin. And again, neither John nor God expects perfection, but if we are willing to continually return to sin, thinking that God will forgive us and we are still Christians, we are contradicting ourselves. Christianity is a walk, not a stance.