Luke 22:49-51
When Jesus' disciples saw what was about to happen, they asked, "Lord, should we attack them with a sword?" One of the disciples even struck at the high priest's servant with his sword and cut off the servant's right ear.
"Enough of that!" Jesus said. Then he touched the servant's ear and healed it.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
My mother used to tell us, “Two ‘wrongs’ don’t make a ‘right’.” I will admit, when I was a kid, I got pretty sick of hearing this… but when we were kids, revenge seemed like a pretty good way to go at times. We didn’t have the maturity to understand that we were basically heaping troubles upon troubles.
Sadly, a lot of us still don’t get it! Somebody makes us mad or upsets us, and we immediately start thinking of ways to make them suffer. “I’ll show them how this feels!” we think… and we start plotting ways to ostracize the person who has offended us or one of our friends or loved ones – just like the Disciple cut off the ear of the soldier who had come for Jesus.
We look at someone who seems headed down the wrong path – and on whom most people have already thrown in the towel – and we say, “What’s the use?” And we stop caring – and even praying. We ask God to help us overcome a struggle in our lives, and His answer seems too long in coming (it’s certainly not due to our impatience!)… and we give up and give in to the struggle and the consequences it brings. Someone doesn’t respond to us in the way we feel they should… or we listen to gossip and the talk of others and form a negative opinion about this person… and we decide to ignore them altogether – or we are downright icy (and rude) to them. After all, they are not “our kind.”
The cold hard fact of life is that people are not going to always be who and what we want them to be. They are not going to always treat us as we would like – or respond in ways that suit our agenda. But this doesn’t give us the right to “cut off their ear!” Even if we feel like our motives are justified, we need to listen to the words of Jesus saying, “Enough of that!” If we want to truly model Christian behavior, we have to follow His lead. We have to “turn the other cheek,” continue to treat others as we would wish to be treated, and love one another in Jesus’ name.
It’s a tall order… but not much about the Christian walk is simple or easy. What we have to understand is that the long-term ramifications of our actions and behaviors will far outweigh any immediate satisfaction we might gain from a knee-jerk reaction. Staying the course with Christ will pay off in benefits and blessings we can’t even imagine. “Enough already!” It’s time to remember who we are – and WHOSE we are… and start living up to the grace-filled position we have been given. Have you had enough?
©2011 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label impulse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label impulse. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for October 25, 2010
Psalm 119:9
Young people can live a clean life by obeying your word.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I’ve been reading in Oswald Chambers’ book My Utmost for His Highest about human impulse. We humans love to act impulsively. Even on the most basic level, if your hands get dirty, your first impulse may be to wash them. When your clothes are stained or you’ve worn them for a while, you feel the urge to wash them.
When something goes wrong in your life, is your first impulse often to run to God and pray? Is one of your immediate thoughts…”Lord, I need you to fix this… to ‘clean’ up this mess!”? Often, our next “impulse” is that we have to correct this situation as fast as possible… we are embarrassed, ashamed, panicked, and fearful… all tools that Satan loves to wield in our direction.
Chambers says that God doesn’t pay any attention to our impulses. In fact, He ignores them. God doesn’t want us to act impulsively in our relationship with Him. He is waiting for us to get so deeply ingrained in His word… to develop such a constant, abiding relationship with Him… that He is not even “second nature” to us – but rather, first nature. God wants us to relate to Him so deeply that living a clean life is a no-brainer, because we are totally immersed in obeying His word and teaching, and we don’t know how to act otherwise.
In order to keep our clothes clean, we would have to sit perfectly still and never move. Even sitting still would not prevent our bodies from becoming dirty over time. But we can keep our spiritual body clean and remove any need for impulse… or desperation. In our relationship with God, we can grow beyond the human confines of such emotions and behaviors as impulse… and in doing so, remove the need to operate in the realm of Satan’s fear, guilt and shame.
No matter what age you are, it’s not too late to start digging deeper into God’s word. It’s never too late to start cultivating a more intimate relationship with Him – one where His presence is as vital and constant as the air you breathe. Young people of all ages can “come clean” today and begin to remove the opportunity for impulsiveness, as you grow closer to God. Are you ready to clean up your act?
©2010 Debbie Robus
Young people can live a clean life by obeying your word.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I’ve been reading in Oswald Chambers’ book My Utmost for His Highest about human impulse. We humans love to act impulsively. Even on the most basic level, if your hands get dirty, your first impulse may be to wash them. When your clothes are stained or you’ve worn them for a while, you feel the urge to wash them.
When something goes wrong in your life, is your first impulse often to run to God and pray? Is one of your immediate thoughts…”Lord, I need you to fix this… to ‘clean’ up this mess!”? Often, our next “impulse” is that we have to correct this situation as fast as possible… we are embarrassed, ashamed, panicked, and fearful… all tools that Satan loves to wield in our direction.
Chambers says that God doesn’t pay any attention to our impulses. In fact, He ignores them. God doesn’t want us to act impulsively in our relationship with Him. He is waiting for us to get so deeply ingrained in His word… to develop such a constant, abiding relationship with Him… that He is not even “second nature” to us – but rather, first nature. God wants us to relate to Him so deeply that living a clean life is a no-brainer, because we are totally immersed in obeying His word and teaching, and we don’t know how to act otherwise.
In order to keep our clothes clean, we would have to sit perfectly still and never move. Even sitting still would not prevent our bodies from becoming dirty over time. But we can keep our spiritual body clean and remove any need for impulse… or desperation. In our relationship with God, we can grow beyond the human confines of such emotions and behaviors as impulse… and in doing so, remove the need to operate in the realm of Satan’s fear, guilt and shame.
No matter what age you are, it’s not too late to start digging deeper into God’s word. It’s never too late to start cultivating a more intimate relationship with Him – one where His presence is as vital and constant as the air you breathe. Young people of all ages can “come clean” today and begin to remove the opportunity for impulsiveness, as you grow closer to God. Are you ready to clean up your act?
©2010 Debbie Robus
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