Rev. Ray and Pat Amos
“Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.” Psalm 119:133
The journey could have been short, perhaps a few weeks; but it took forty years. God was leading them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He supplied their every need; but it was never enough for their “we want better” demands. At the first sign of trouble they were always ready to run right back to the life that they had once prayed to be free from. It took forty years to get the old life out of their hearts.
The little boy kept rolling out of bed at night. He was asked, “Why do you keep doing that?” “It is because I sleep too close to where I get in the bed,” was his answer. His words are really quiet profound. It may be very reason that some of us can’t seem to get any closer to God. We want to hang around close to the life we once lived; and that is the very place that temptation has its greatest influence.
Sometimes we have to “Get on down the road” if we are going to get to where we are going. We must look the old cravings in the face and say, “No More!” It is time to set our eyes on Jesus and tell our feet, “forward march.” Do not look back; “Remember Lot’s wife.”
“Go and sin no more,” Jesus said to a woman set free. Would He say less to us? “Grow up,” is pretty much what Paul said to some Christians. Get rid of the baby bottle and take hold of the meat of the Gospel. If you are going to start something, then finish it is what Jesus taught. “Otherwise, if we lay the foundation and are unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule our lives and faith.” (See Luke 14:29)
Our Savior made it possible for us to start and finish the race; but we have to walk the walk. We will not be carried to the skies on “flowery beds of ease.”
Jesus said that it is the one who endures to the end who shall be saved. Our Lord will lead us all the way, but He will not drag us one inch. We have this promise: “Draw close to God and He will draw close to you.”
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray (1/22/2019)
