In, Not Of

Our great Father who is so full of love, bless us this day. Show us your grace even further. We are so unsatisfied when you do a wondrous work, for we want to see another. We are never content with the amount of love you have shown us; we want to see more. Oh, please put the ability in our hearts to be content and rejoice in what you have given us. For this is the product of true faith. May we not focus on what we can get from you but what we have gotten from you. You are love, you are God, and we adore you. In Jesus name, Amen.

Have you ever bought pants that were too small? You didn’t think they were too small when you first bought them because you had been convinced by some friends that they looked good. You got home, and after a few days, you realized how uncomfortable they really were. The pants didn’t change at all, your perception of them did. What about shoes? Have you ever done this with shoes and then realized how uncomfortable they were (high-heels ladies)? 

These pants or shoes are much like how the Christian fits into the world. When we are born, we grow up usually thinking the world is pretty nice. We will try it on, be told it looks good, and continue wearing it. Until we realize how uncomfortable it is. The Christian is uncomfortable in the world because it’s not where they fit. They now have a renewed mind, whereas the world has a filthy mind. How is the Christian to learn to be comfortable in the world? 

This is asking the wrong question. For there is a difference between buying the pants and wearing the pants. In other words, there is a difference between being of the world (wearing the pants) and being in the world (buying the pants). The Christian is not to wear the pants, but to put some money into the pants and buy them. The Christian is not to do as the world does and live as the world lives, but to care for the world enough to tell them the gospel.

Please learn this lesson my beloved brothers and sisters. We must be in the world, but not of the world. In closing:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” - Romans 12:2