As the summer holiday’s are now upon us, Christian believers need to be on our guard because of the ‘sinful desires that wage war against our souls.’ (1 Peter 2:11).
It is very easy for Christians to topple over into one of two errors.
1. To despise the God’s creation (ie this world) and call his good gifts, evil (1 Timothy 4:1-5). I for one am looking forward to spending extended periods of time enjoying fresh air, reading good literature, plenty of sleep and relaxed time with friends and family.
2 The opposite error is becoming “worldly”, which is spiritual suicide (1 John 2:15-17). How do we define “worldliness”? I was recently reading Kevin DeYoung’s book ‘The Hole in our Holiness’ where he quotes someone else in saying this: ‘Worldliness is whatever makes sin look normal and righteousness look strange’. I think this is very helpful.
Some of us are more likely to become “worldly” when we are at rest, than when we are at work and sometimes we don’t even notice it when it is staring us in the face. May we not be found grieving the Spirit this summer. Rather might we be sensitive to his prompting and rediscover that there is no joy like the joy of walking closely with the Lord. PLEASE READ EPHESIANS 5:3-7!
Have a good one.