It's interesting to look back on my young life and see so many changes that took place, and these past three years have been where the most change has happened. Jesus has saved me, there is no doubt about that. I grew up as a church kid, I didn't care too much about God, as long as everything in my life went okay. I did fine in school, I never used four-letter-words, I never drank, smoked, did drugs, never dated (so those opportunities didn't present themselves), but I was rotten. I did not care about people, I didn't care about my family, I could honestly say that there was no real love there for anyone, friend or family, I would just benefit from saying the right things, doing the right things, and living "right" in the eyes of those around me. I was a very bitter person, and Jesus gave me strength and joy to overcome. I was a very prideful person, and Jesus humbled me. I was extremely selfish, and Jesus showed me that His plan was not about me at all. There's still a lot that needs to be worked on, but God is slowly working on me day by day, depending on my obedience to Him, that I might stand perfect before Him one day. People tend to freak out when I use the "P" word. Many people think we can't be perfect or free from sin, but what does Jesus say? Matthew 5:48 says for us to be perfect, even as the Father in heaven. Perfection (often called "holiness" or if you like big crazy bible words, "sanctification") is living up to what we know to be true. If we let God take control of our lives, He will perfect us in these three areas
Maturity: In Chi Alpha, we sometimes say that "knowledge is analog, obedience is digital". This means that we will always be learning. I don't believe that we will be a point, in this life or in Eternity, where we will know everything, but we can choose to be obedient to what God tells us to do at any time in our walk with Him. As we remain obedient to God, He will show us new things that we should do...or not do, and He will make us more mature depending on our obedience.
Blamelessness: The Bible has teaches us that sin is a choice, not something that we fall into accidentally. Just as Adam chose to sin in the garden, so we also chose to do evil. We live in a fallen world, and the influences of it are all around us, and to choose to sin makes it easier to continue to choose sin. In this, we separate ourselves from God by our choices. The beautiful thing about God is that He is merciful and full of grace. When we come to Him, He will help us to get out of the things that we've trapped ourselves in, to where we can choose whether to obey God or not to obey God. We do not have to choose to sin, and as long as we choose obedience and repentance, we will be found blameless before a good and merciful God who will forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:10)
Sincerity: We have the ability to be real with one another. "Sincere" comes from a Latin word meaning "without wax". When sculptors made statues out of marble, and made a mistake, they would fix the problem by filling in the mistake with wax. This would make the statue look authentically marble, and one could not tell whether or not there was any wax. This wax, though a quick solution, did not last as long as the marble (which is why we see statues missing arms, legs, noses, etc.). There was one way to see whether or not wax was used in the statue, by viewing it against light. The light would shine through the areas of the sculpture that was not solid marble. In this way, we are to be sincere with God and with others. We may look righteous to everyone else, but in the light of eternity, all of our hidden secrets will be exposed.
This is holiness. We are not all-knowing, so we will never be perfect in wisdom, which leads to the inevitability that we will make mistakes (not all mistakes are sin, but every sin is a terrible mistake), but God is merciful, and if we are sincerely seeking after Him, He will help us.
We need God as a nation, especially in view of Friday's killings. Many have used it to spur debates for and against gun control, or prayer in schools (that would be nice, but we really need prayer in church first). The thing that we need to be aware of as a nation is our need for God. It is an often neglected fact that the devil has come to steal, kill, and destroy. Let that sink in. We have a dangerous adversary who would be more powerful than we are, if not for the Holy Spirit. He doesn't just want to tempt us into falling away from God, he wants to kill us. He knows his time is short, and his goal is to destroy as many lives as possible before that time. The enemy is a selfish enemy who lacks compassion, and does not have mercy on the innocent first and second grader or the troubled 20-year-old. That being said, we followers of Christ are on the side of the Sovereign King. I think He can change our nation and deliver us from this decay that is happening morally, economically, and environmentally. If only we will seek Him (2 Chronicles 7:14). God uses men as His method for advancing His kingdom, which also means that He gives us free will to obey or not to obey. These terrible tragedies are not in God's plan or design. How do we know that God was not earnestly pleading to the soul of the one who killed all those people? He wouldn't intervene, He couldn't, or it would go against the free will He has given us, and it would not be virtuous of Him to make anyone do anything. Those men had every opportunity to listen to God and not take part in evil, but they made their choice. Their sin, like every other sin man could possibly commit, has deadly repercussions in the lives of others.
O' come, o' come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel,
Who mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
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