by David Scott Robertson
(James 4:17 NIV) Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
Even though I love the Word of God,
Sometimes I struggle over some of the scriptures I encounter.
The aforementioned verse is one of them.
Not that I question its theological soundness or validity.
Rather the opposite.
Concern arises within when I am confronted with a scripture that I'm not fully obeying.
Let me take five areas of my life and explain what I mean.
1. My spiritual life
Case in point: Instead of reaching for my Bible, I reach for the TV Guide.
2. My Money
Case in point: Instead of reaching for the checkbook to write an offering (above my tithes) to the missionary, I write the check instead to the restaurant or movie rental store.
3. My Marriage
Case in point: Instead of reaching for the hand of my wife to take a walk, I reach for my briefcase to do more work for the church.
4. My Family
Case in point: Instead of reaching for a game to play with my daughter or a devotional to read to her, I reach for the remote.
5. My Health
Case in point: Instead of reaching for my racquetball racket or jump rope I reach for a piece of pie or ice cream.
The results?
Galatians 6:7 (NKJV)
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
So now I find myself in a dilemma.
I read the Bible and of course it's true.
Then I compare my life to it and it doesn't line up as consistently as I desire.
Please understand that I've not set the bar of the standard of my life to complete and utter perfection and anything less is failure.
Not at all.
Still, and I think this is a balanced view, I am striving for excellence in all things.
It's when I begin to feel the twinge of guilt or heaviness in my heart
In any or all of these five areas that I've mentioned,
That I begin to think on these things.
That's not an obsessive, compulsive behavioral response -
That just might be one of the greatest gifts God ever gave mankind -
The conviction of the Holy Spirit.
You see, I want to do what it takes now to avoid contracting a terminal disease called regret.
Given these facts, what shall I do then?
Thankfully, I'm not the first or last to grapple with these issues.
Another fellow had a similar problem in the area of self-discipline like me.
His name was the apostle Paul and he wrote out of his frustration centuries ago like I write out of my frustration today:
Romans 7:15-25 (NKJV)
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. [16] If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. [17] But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. [18] For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. [19] For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. [20] Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. [21] I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. [22] For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. [23] But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. [24] O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? [25] I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!..."
Aha! The solution to my dilemma, my problem, my difficulty, my trouble, my crisis, my predicament, my quandary, my flaw, my compromise, my setbacks, my misaligned priorities is none other than Jesus Christ my Lord!
Time spent with Jesus
Will translate into clear thinking and appropriate responses to the obstacles that I face as a Christian, a steward, a husband, a father, and a human being.
Then, it's not hopeless.
God is committed to helping me make good choices and grow in the grace and likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ in my spiritual life.
He is also quite adept in the roles of
Financial Advisor to guide me in good stewardship and eternal investments;
Marriage Counselor to guide me in proper skills development in my love relationship with my wife;
Family Mentor to guide me to focus on my family;
And Personal Fitness Trainer to guide me to maintain my body temple so that it may prosper and be in good health (1 John 3:2).
Subsequently, my focus must be on "living in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16)
And walking in a "moment-by-moment" relationship with the Lord.
If we mess up, repent, and go and sin no more.
In the meantime, think on these things:
Romans 8:1 (NKJV)
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
DSR
12/2/02