How many people do you know who think like the people in my "dan notes" in these verses?
********
Psalm 101:1 I will sing of your love and justice, LORD.
I will praise you with songs.
2 I will be careful to live a blameless life (dan note: so I guess that means I can't have sex of any kind with my girlfriend or boyfriend, even though we love each other & are "probably gonna get married"?)
when will you come to help me? (dan note: I'm not sure I want Him all up in my "bid'ness" like that)
I will lead a life of integrity
in my own home. (dan note: iow, when no one is around, I'll be who I'm supposed to be & who I sometimes pretend to be around others?)
3 I will refuse to look at
anything vile and vulgar. (dan note: I guess that rules out porn, movie & YouTube vids that are objectionable, & anything hanging on the walls of Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, or Victoria's Secret?)
I hate all who deal crookedly;
I will have nothing to do with them. (dan note: so if my friend or co-worker decides to do something illegal or unethical, I won't follow along & do it too, or look the other way when he or she does it?)
4 I will reject perverse ideas
and stay away from every evil. (dan note: does this mean I can't fantasize about, well, you know...? I mean, it's just in my head. It's not hurtin' anybody, or like I'm gonna do it or anything)
5 I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors. (dan note: hmmm... does that mean I can't listen to gossip, or "prayer concerns"?)
I will not endure conceit and pride. (dan note: uhm, this kinda eliminates most of the people I know, including me!)
6 I will search for faithful people
to be my companions. (dan note: now where the heck am I gonna find people like that?!)
Only those who are above reproach
will be allowed to serve me. (dan note: who's talking about serving?! it's hard enough just to find peeps to hang with!)
7 I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house,
and liars will not stay in my presence. (dan note: ain't nooooooobody coming to my house then)
8 My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked
and free the city of the LORD from their grip. (dan note: my social life is gone!)
********
I'm dismayed & discouraged at the lack of holy living that I see in so many of the people around me who claim to be Christ followers. (well, if I'm honest, in me sometimes, too)
In the last year or so, I've become shocked at how many people that really are Christ followers who are having sex with the people they're dating &/or fixin' to marry. This is just NOT ok, no matter how you spin it.
I'm dismayed at how many are honest & have integrity when it suits them - iow, morals are relative to the situation.
I'm just flabbergasted at the number of people I know who seldom show up for work on time, or at all, & don't call their workplace.
Now let's get one thing straight here - I'm NOT holding myself up as the living example of all that's good & pure in the world. No one's EVER accused me of peeing holy water - nor ever will.
But PLEASE! could we understand that there are some fundamental differences between being a Christ follower & not being one?!
No, life isn't a list of do's & don't's, but there are some things that simply aren't on the list of things we get to be & do if we're supposed to be becoming more & more like Jesus every day.
We simply cannot listen to the world & the devil when they tell us that there are no absolutes, that truth & right living are relative to who's involved, the circumstances, & our personal viewpoint, plus, there's no overarching general way of being.
Face it - we will be known as "peculiar people" without even trying to be, because there are some things that are simply not endemic to our identity simply because we claim to be following the life & example of Jesus.
This isn't a rant, even though it sounds like one.
It's just a thought in a sea of chaos, an ocean of disfunction & sin.
No comments:
Post a Comment