Written by
His Grace,
Kevin K.
O’Connor
Sep. 21,
2004
Main thought:
to examine the thought that like it or not we are slaves to something.
Slaves of Righteousness
Romans 6:15-17 15What
then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Don't
you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you
are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads
to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But
thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly
obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.
Praise God
for passionate hearts! People who find no pleasure in doing things half hearted or half way, but who find joy in giving all of
themselves into what they do. For such God is looking to reign with Him through
all eternity. If you are such a soul and haven’t been arrested by the Almighty
yet, watch out because He has your number. Paul was such a soul and was all for
the killing of Christians in his day because he thought it was for a righteous
cause. All God had to do to turn him in the right direction was to show up!
God’s heart though takes no pleasure in laziness. Laziness must appear to Him
like a cancer whose only purpose is to feed itself and thus sap life away from
the good cells around it. Those who sit on the sidelines of life and argue with
their mouths how we shouldn’t take up arms and fight for our freedoms are like
cancer cells trying to protect their own little world of quiet which they only
have because others gave their lives for them to have the liberty to protest.
Praise God for the right to speak our hearts, but more importantly to live
them. Paul was a person of action and not just talk which is one very important
trait that God found very desirable. How each one of us need to realize that
there are only two sides of our existence, right and wrong, God and satan, good and evil. So what makes the gray areas between
these? Not being whole hearted for one or the other. God is a God of passion
and conviction. His heart takes pleasure in those who are of the same attitude
but loathes complacency. We are so quick to try and tone down the passion of
those around us only because it causes our lack of passion to stand out like a
sore thumb. It seems that our hearts were made to be whole hearted in whatever
we do because we find pleasure in doing so. Runners find a high in running,
Body builders in working out, Sports fans in yelling their lungs out. No wonder
Christ told us that the greatest commandment was to Love the Lord our God with
all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Because, only in loving Him this
way is there fullness of joy. The human heart was not meant to give pieces of
itself, just ask anyone who has a loved someone who was not faithful to them.
The heart was meant to be passionate and total in its giving. Satan is the one
who whispers his lies into our hearts that we can find fulfillment through
giving our hearts to many different places. Though the arrogance and sinfulness
of man is tempted to, it only leads to being incomplete in any relationship.
Look at the first relationship between Adam, Eve, and God. It was perfect and
without sin. Perfect in every respect but then along came satan
with his lies and said (paraphrased) is God really God and does He really know
what He is saying? Thus the wicked pride of man took it and ran with it and
look where it took the relationship he was enjoying. We’re still doing it today
and if not with God, we’re doing it with those we’ve pledged all of our lives
to. Then there are those who say to themselves “I just won’t make the pledge of
loving anyone” and yet they still say it with their actions when they give
their hearts away through the intimate act of intercourse. As much as some
would like to treat that most beautiful expression of intimacy between a man
and a woman like some common expression that lacks dedication and consecration,
they are sadly mistaken. The depth of man’s heart expressed through intimacy
was not meant to be taken lightly. But, the bottom line is we live in these
bodies and the depth of intimacy that reaches beyond the flesh into who we are
is the most rewarding and fulfilling intimacy we can experience. How very sad
to live a shallow existence, a life that is only skin deep. People, who try to
fill the void in their hearts through others, themselves, or things, will find
that the void in their hearts just seems to grow. It’s kind of like trying to
fill the Grand Canyon by throwing one small stone in after another. It’s just
not going to happen. 100 percent efficiency means you get out exactly what you
put in. In other words, there is no wasted energy. Kind of like a boomerang you
throw out and it returns to you. Most of us like to see our efforts produce
results which just encourages us to keep the efforts going out. Every time we
live for ourselves, others, or things, that energy of ourselves becomes wasted
for everything in this life is but for a moment. But, if we can learn how to
look beyond ourselves into eternity and realize that The Creator created us for
His purposes, than everything we do begins to take on a new meaning and
purpose. When we begin to look beyond the veil of the temporary things of this
life to the One who gives us each breath of life we breathe, then each step we
take will have purpose and destiny behind them. What drives you? Is it your
next meal, your next physical sensation, what others think of you, your temporary
wealth? Or is it something that cannot be seen or measured by the heart or mind
of man. We were created by the eternal, Almighty God and the depths of our
hearts cry out to be filled by Him Who alone can fill that void. We’re all
slaves to something or someone. For we were and are created and no amount of
our own efforts or self will is going to change that
fact. The only thing we can change is the direction we are going to take with
what has been given us. Adam and Eve had a choice and they chose their own way.
The majority of this world will do the same. But the choice is still yours and
no one else’s. That is one thing that is sacred to each human being that
nothing can take away. Romans
8:37-39 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through
him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons,[1] neither the present nor the future, nor any
powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Only we
and we alone can give that right away like Esau of old; Genesis 25:30-34 30 He said
to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!"
(That is why he was also called Edom. [1]
) 31 Jacob replied, "First sell me your
birthright." 32 "Look, I am about to die," Esau said.
"What good is the birthright to me?" 33 But Jacob said,
"Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his
birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some
lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his
birthright. Esau, like
many in this world can only see the momentary pleasures of this existence and
cannot see beyond this life into eternity. Each and every one of us is very
dear and precious to the One Who created us and Who loves us very much. How His
heart aches for us to listen to His Word so that the part of us which is
eternal will awaken from our slumber. His Word, which is eternal, will speak to
that eternal part within each of us if we but take the time to listen. There is
a joy in being who we were meant to be. His breath is where we came from and
when we begin to realize this and learn how to bring our pride and lay it at
His feet we begin to grow into a freedom and joy the world knows not of. We are
not gods unto ourselves and when we realize this fact, we can begin to grow
into who we were meant to be which are expressions of God’s love and
creativity. God bless every heart who sees beyond themselves into the heart of
God and His will for their lives. God help us all enter into the joys of being
who we were meant to be. We can no more will our next breath as we did our
first one. We are either slaves of righteousness through submitting our wills
to his or slaves of sin through the hardening of our hearts against who we were
meant to be.
Heavenly
Father, Thank you for being more loving and pure than my heart can comprehend
and giving of Yourself in creating me. Teach my heart how to grow in its
relationship with you so that I can truly reflect the One from whom I exist. In
Jesus Glorious, Eternal, Beautiful Name. Amen
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