Light Steps: 02/01/2021

Tuesday, February 09, 2021

Scared or Sacred?

Scared. Sacred. Do you notice both words use the same letters. It's all a matter of the "c." Where do you see the "c" in your life?

Scared. Sacred. You're walking one or the other. Me? Sacred.

There is plenty to fear.
God is to be feared above it all.
Reverent fear of the Lord makes us walk sacred.
Irreverent positioning of self makes us walk scared.

The Psalmist wrote, "I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears." (Psalm 34:4 ESV) Maybe the question is whether we are seeking the Lord or not.

Later on in the same Psalm, we are even told, "Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!" (Psalm 34:9 ESV) See it? Fearing the Lord is the answer to provision, without and, especially, within!

The next verse says, "The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." (Psalm 34:10 ESV) Wow! It's not about the ignorant boldness of youth, but about the wisdom of seeking God. This is no thumbing our noses at risk, acting like we are 10 feet tall and bullet proof with no thought of tomorrow or forever. Seeking the Lord is wiser and more rewarding than youthful fierceness.

Praise God, this is a learned process! The Psalmist said, "Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD." (Psalm 34:11 ESV) If it can be taught, it can be learned.

A great many individuals -- EVEN WHOLE CONGREGATIONS! -- are walking scared ... so scared that they have forsaken the mission of the gospel ... so scared that they have given up the struggles of gathering and growing and serving and going.

I am more afraid to face the Lord than the trials of the day.

I'm no young lion, but I am a seeker. I am a learner. The issues we face are complex, and neither pithiness nor denial can answer these issues, but neither can running scared. Neither apathy, nor antipathy are the answers. Neither scorning nor scoffing provide serious solutions. Running and hiding away are not the answers either.

Wise mitigation. Appropriate reticence. Humble obedience.
Sacred struggle. Childlike trust. Sacrificial service. Loving toil.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord...

That's on you...

One thing that is missing today is personal responsibility. Along with it, accountability. It's common in our culture for us to look for someone to blame for whatever happens to us or for the bad attitudes and habits we develop.

Now, we don't mind receiving credit for the positive things in our lives. The Scripture says the reward for wisdom belongs to us AND the consequence of not being wise is equally ours to bear. "If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it." (Proverbs 9:12 ESV)

Here is the fact: a man gains the wage for his work, or lack thereof, and that's true in physical and spiritual labor (ref. 1 Corinthians 3:8). We increasingly live in a world where we want something for nothing in the good and no consequence for the bad.

At some point, a reckoning will come, and it'll be on each of us to give an account. We'd do well to learn to praise God when we've seen fit to walk by wisdom and to also cry out to him when we've been unwise, taking responsibility AND seeking mercy.

This Says it for Me!

Every Christian is a contradiction to this old world. He crosses it at every point. He goes against the grain from beginning to end. From the day that he is born again until the day that he goes on to be with the Lord, he must stand against the current of a world always going the other way. God expects him to be "beside himself," "a fool for Christ's sake," "drunk on new wine." If he allows it, men will tone him down, steal the joy of his salvation, and reduce him to the dreary level of the general average. If the devil cannot keep us from being saved, he next endeavors to make average Christians of us, and in this he usually succeeds. He tames the holy recklessness of God's dare-saints until they sink into the drab pattern of most of us, "faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly dull." The devil does not mind our joining church if we behave like most of those who are already inside. But when a real, wide-awake Christian breezes along, taking the Gospel seriously, the devil grows alarmed and begins plotting his downfall. He gets plenty of assistance right in the church, for many church folk do not like to have their Laodicean complacency upset by these who turn the world upside down. So they conspire with Satan to turn the young Christian's fever into a chill. There are always plenty of human wet blankets to smother the zealot's flame, and they have put out more spiritual fires than have all the skeptics and infidels. -- Vance Havner

A Little About Me...

I was born in South Boston, VA, but was raised on the state line in the Person Co., NC - Caswell Co., NC - Halifax Co., VA region. I always tell people you know you are a country boy when your idea of being a "multi-national" means you've been to three counties in your lifetime.

Enough of my geographical meanderings...I became a Christian (ask me about THAT!) at the age of 25 and have done my utmost to serve God since that day. I worked as an associate pastor for 4 1/2 years and now serve in the role of Executive Director of My Life Matters, where I've been since March 2005, and I also serve as the pastor of East Rock Community Church, a church plant, along with fellow elders, Brett Carver & Casey Adams, where we've been since June 2007.

I love to write. I share a devotion in our local paper each week. This blog site is really just an extension of my writing. I really hope to share the Word of God with people...any kind of people, every kind of person. I also do a weekly podcast called "Light Steps Live," which can be found on several platforms.

Thanks for "stopping by"! Y'all come back now, ya hear?