When The Door Slams
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praise of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 peter 2:9-10 NIV)
Western society has been obsessed with the search for self. We have turned the age-old philosophical question about the meaning and purpose of life into a modern growth industry. Each fab with an intense following until something new comes along.
Popular literature ride the wave with best-selling titles that guarantee success with everything from making money to firming flabby thighs. This not-so-magnificent obsession to "find ourselves" has spawned a whole set of counterfeit values; we worship fame, success, materialism, and celebrity. We want to "live for success" as we "look out for number one," and we don't mind "winning through intimidation."
However, this "self" conscious world is wretched; beyond hope. Each new promise leads only to a frustrating paradox... A few decades of seemingly limitless wealthy people have succeeded only in sucking our culture dry, leaving it spiritually empty and economically weakened. Our world is filled with self-absorbed, frightened and hollow people.
In the middle of these debilitating paradoxes of modern life, men and women search for some shred of meaning, some understanding of self. But the obsessive search leads only to the narcissistic destruction of what is so aggressively sought.
Think about this: Whom do we blame? Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin (James 1:14-15). Is Satan always to blame when things go wrong in our lives? or are we sometimes responsible? On the one hand, the Bible makes it clear that Satan is real, and that he is ultimately behind all the evil that goes on in the world. Before he rebelled against God (long before the human race was created), the world was perfect; sin and evil didn't exist. But now we live in a fallen, twisted, sin-infested world--and Satan is the reason.
But on the other hand, Satan is not all-powerful, nor does he directly cause every bad thing that happens to us. Sometimes we don't know the cause--but often we alone are responsible, because we have turned our backs on God and deliberately followed our own sinful desires instead of His will. When we do, we pay the consequences; as the Bible warn, "God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows" (Galatians 6:7).
Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.
Never Rest Ministries
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