A New Sequence – For Success

You know the old saying “preaching to the choir”?  With a lot of our writings and urgings in this challenge, that’s what I feel we are doing.  Biblical warnings you’ve heeded.  Many of God’s promises you’ve claimed.  Our prayer is that they will stay fresh in your heart and mind and will overflow to others.  If you’ve been challenged, if you’ve been changed, we hope that you will share that with others.  We want the whole world to lay claim to God’s rich promises.

But laying claim is only part of the journey.  The walk with God is long and filled with temptations and trials and continual denying of ourselves. The scripture tells us to expect this.  In Philippians we read that we are to count all things as loss so that we may win Christ (Philippians 3:8). We know that it’s hard to put a book back on the shelf because the content is pulling you away from the closeness you share with God.  It’s difficult to leave that movie theater when the Holy Spirit prompts action.  It takes courage to stand up to friends and family when they urge you to follow the culture of the world.  Not only is it hard, it’s relentless!  This world is reaching, pulling, calling.

Every.  Single.  Day.

How do we stay consistent?  How do we make sure that this time we not only “go all in”, but we stay all in?  We’ve talked about how it’s not the giant leaps we have to worry about; it’s the tiny steps.  Some of us have well-traveled paths toward sin.  We know what calls us louder than anything else.  We know of which vices we need to be wary.

We want to help you pinpoint those triggers so that you can immediately pull back from that wayward path.   I’ll use myself as an example.  For me, the telltale sign that I’m letting the world seep back in is my music choice.  Music may not be a big part of your life, but for me, it’s huge.  Music speaks to me.  I’m not being overly dramatic, it impacts every part of me from my mood to my words to my example before others.

In years past I would try to cut out worldly music, but somehow, it would always creep back in.  I would decide that certain songs were okay so long as they didn’t have swear words in them.  It wasn’t hard core rock I was listening to so I would convince myself that it was no big deal.  But with those songs came desires for freedom or wealth or popularity or excitement – so many unnecessary evils!

How did I fight this?  I followed Jesus’ teaching that it needed to be completely cut out of my life. (Matthew 5:29-30)  I had to purge the world from my iTunes account, my CD collection, my computer playlists.  Then, I replaced it with new music, God-honoring music.  This was very hard for me at first so I prayed and held myself accountable.  I asked myself only slightly sarcastically if this is what it means to die to myself daily.

Now, instead of pushing back the urging of the Holy Spirit when I’m driving home, I’m relishing the times I have alone in my car when I can turn up my radio and sing of my Savior.  The desires spurred on by my music are worthy of my Father.  However, I know myself.  I know my past.  I know this change will not last if I do not remain vigilant in my listening choices.  It is a constant challenge to put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24).  And you know what?  The longer we put off that old self and claim the newness of life?  The less tempted we will be by those sins that once so easily beset us.

Today’s Challenge:  Consider the areas in your life where you know you struggle.  Think back to times when you’ve given in to sin and pinpoint the path that led you there.  Grow familiar with the chain of events that leads to sin and set in place new avenues regarding your thoughts and behaviors.  Put in place an alternative set of behaviors that honor God.  Make yourself as familiar with this sequence as you are with your drive home from work or school.  Let’s defeat this pattern of falling away once and for all!