i'm about to get on a soapbox, so if you don't want to read a rant feel free to follow this link to a video of 4 incredibly cute puppies the WCNC team encountered on the Cherokee, NC indian reservation. you should watch the video anyway though, even if you don't mind reading my rant. go ahead and watch it now. i'll wait.
oh good. you're back! so here is my main point of interest for this post: intensely devoted followers of belief systems contrary to that which the Lord calls us to should not be comended for their ability to be so devoted; it's not hard to follow the devil away from the Lord.
this consolidated idea came from a conversation between me and two very good friends, holley and kelsey. we were watching the tlc show "Sister Wives" and every now and then we would pause the show and talk about how ridiculous we thought the whole thing was. this lead to us discussing something that is a point of conviction in my life, and probably also in the lives of other christians. that is simply that we often see people of other religions (i.e. muslims, mormons, buddhists, etc.) so devoted to their faiths. they consistently pray, fight for what they believe, act on precedents, and make huge sacrifices. i honestly can't say that i've ever abided by that kind of devotion and dedication, and it's easy to envy their "faith". why can't i put forth that kind of effort? why can't i be that devoted? why can't i make the same sacrifices?
then i was reminded of a verse that brings a lot of this confusion i was feeling into the light. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" that, right there, is a huge part of why a person's faith in Jesus Christ is so valuable. the natural tendency of a human heart is to be cold, wicked, deceitful, self-seeking, merciless, corrupt, bent toward sin and a number of other characteristics that are in direct opposition to the life and character that Christ followers are called to have. just think of a small child. you don't have to teach a 3 year old to lie or a 2 year old to pitch a fit when they don't get what they want. you don't have to teach a 6 year old to act impulsively. they are merely acting on their human nature and must be taught to do the opposite.
it is work to follow Christ. it requires denying what comes naturally and choosing a different path. it requires answering the call of the Holy Spirit and allowing it to completely take over. it requires letting that which is unseen control what we so desperately want to be in control of. if faith in the Lord was easy and natural, there wouldn't be a need for Christ. man would not have fallen. our response to and our relationship with God would be perfect and universal among all people.
if we can believe what the Bible says is true (which i whole-heartedly do), then we know that there is a devil who comes to steal, kill, and destroy us (John 10:10). his goal is to lead us from the Lord and into a life of pain, ill-will, and sin. he knows our weaknesses and manipulates them to suit his agenda, and for some, that manipulation comes in the form of the temptation to follow a religion or faith that is in the opposite direction of Christ.
here's where i bring it all together, so stay with me! if it is natural for us to give into temptation and that temptation is to follow a path away from the Lord, then intense devotion to that path is not extraordinary and has no value. but, if by the work of the Holy Spirit we feel and answer the call to follow Christ, we can have assurance that our faith is so much more worthy of comendation and holds great, great value, and that value remains despite the sin and struggles we deal with, including hypocrisy.
my question to you now is, will you choose human nature, or will you choose God's nature? will your faith be utterly unextraordinary, or will it have great value? will you be intensely devoted to not following Christ, or will you answer the call and return to your heavenly father? let me know what you think. i'd love to hear your opinion!
