Creep (Message to Christians in general)
Nope. It's not that someone has irritated me to the point of cursing.
"Creeping" is what I picture in my mind when I talk to people who begin to compromise on things. The thing about creeping is that it is slow, and barely noticeable (unless one looks at it intently, and for extended periods of time). Creeping is also creepy (pun intended), in more ways than one. Before you know it, it pounces on you.
Why am I suddenly talking about this? It's because I want to remind and encourage all of you, to never let the creeping start. Do you think that the enemy comes on you, with horns and pointy tail and pitchfork, tongues of flame and blazing eyes? No. He will come as one who is beautiful, and slowly change into the devil that he truly is. And so it is the same with his schemes and plans. They come masquerading as legitimate causes: school. examinations, studies; projects, CCAs, friends, social gatherings, etc etc.
Before you retort, let me do the honours. Are these things that ought to be done? Surely, they are. What kind of a testimony does one give if he cannot even fulfil his own vocational duties, be it work or studies? What kind of a Christian gets holed up at home or in church, without a SINGLE friend who needs salvation ("No life?")? However, it is always a matter of priority. Do we NEED to sacrifice Sundays (which, for some of you, are the only times you come into God's presence, if indeed you can) to study, to meet up with friends, to rest? Do you mean to say that during the whole week, you did not waste a single moment watching TV, playing games, sleeping in?
Don't get me wrong. I am not an extremist. Recreation IS important. But think about it. If you spent 2 hours more than usual in front of the TV instead of studying, and now need to skip church to do some last minute cramming (because the test is on the next day), what are your priorities like? Is it
1.) School>Church>TV;
2.) Church>School>TV; or
3.) School>TV>Church?
I understand anxieties, and if you chose 1, I do not agree but can understand it. But the truth of the matter is, your priorities are more like option 3 (feel free to swap TV with any other activity).
What, then, is left to say? Order your lives, and stop giving excuses. You CAN do without that bit of guilty leisure. Otherwise, before long, you will find yourself coming up with ever more colorful excuses, and eventually putting your own salvation at risk.
The creep is waiting.
Hebrews 10:25-27
"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God."
Cyrus
"Creeping" is what I picture in my mind when I talk to people who begin to compromise on things. The thing about creeping is that it is slow, and barely noticeable (unless one looks at it intently, and for extended periods of time). Creeping is also creepy (pun intended), in more ways than one. Before you know it, it pounces on you.
Why am I suddenly talking about this? It's because I want to remind and encourage all of you, to never let the creeping start. Do you think that the enemy comes on you, with horns and pointy tail and pitchfork, tongues of flame and blazing eyes? No. He will come as one who is beautiful, and slowly change into the devil that he truly is. And so it is the same with his schemes and plans. They come masquerading as legitimate causes: school. examinations, studies; projects, CCAs, friends, social gatherings, etc etc.
Before you retort, let me do the honours. Are these things that ought to be done? Surely, they are. What kind of a testimony does one give if he cannot even fulfil his own vocational duties, be it work or studies? What kind of a Christian gets holed up at home or in church, without a SINGLE friend who needs salvation ("No life?")? However, it is always a matter of priority. Do we NEED to sacrifice Sundays (which, for some of you, are the only times you come into God's presence, if indeed you can) to study, to meet up with friends, to rest? Do you mean to say that during the whole week, you did not waste a single moment watching TV, playing games, sleeping in?
Don't get me wrong. I am not an extremist. Recreation IS important. But think about it. If you spent 2 hours more than usual in front of the TV instead of studying, and now need to skip church to do some last minute cramming (because the test is on the next day), what are your priorities like? Is it
1.) School>Church>TV;
2.) Church>School>TV; or
3.) School>TV>Church?
I understand anxieties, and if you chose 1, I do not agree but can understand it. But the truth of the matter is, your priorities are more like option 3 (feel free to swap TV with any other activity).
What, then, is left to say? Order your lives, and stop giving excuses. You CAN do without that bit of guilty leisure. Otherwise, before long, you will find yourself coming up with ever more colorful excuses, and eventually putting your own salvation at risk.
The creep is waiting.
Hebrews 10:25-27
"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God."
Cyrus
posted by Cyrus at
10:51 PM
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