Monday, May 7, 2012

Are you "...acceptable unto God..."???

Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is you reasonable service."
    So i looked up the word beseech to see what it really means. Here is the definition: "Ask someone urgently or fervently to do something; implore; entreat.." So here is Paul begging people to live a holy life that is acceptable unto God. I started thinking... What is acceptable unto God? I thought of Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there e any praise, think on these things." In the Bible the Lord gives us a list of things that we should think on, and I think that these are some guidelines for what is acceptable to God. I have to stop and think, what in my life doesn't measure up to these standards???? Hmmm.... Good thought. I think we all have things in our life which do not measure up to these guidelines the Lord has given us. Might be time to take a moment and step back to see our life, and what needs to be cleaned out... 
Now, I'm not talking about, "Ooooo, Time to clean out my Facebook Friend's list." *EyeRoll* I am so sick of hearing "Christians" proudly post, "Well if you are reading this then you have made it through my Facebook "purge"." It makes me SICK every time I read this. What kind of testimony are you being when you go and delete someone on FB that doesn't measure up to your "standards"??? After reading Romans 12:1 and Philippians 4:8 do you think YOU measure up??? I highly doubt it! I have only deleted 1 person on my Facebook.... Not because they didn't measure up to my standards, but because they were verbally attacking me, my family, my beliefs, and my God. I will NOT deal with that. But... When I see a Christian deleting others for cursing, pictures, or the "drama" the other person created (which is laughable if you think about it) I literally CRINGE! You are telling that person, "You are NOTHING to me." Is that what Jesus would do? No, instead of "defriending" people, He actually sought out the sinners to go and have lunch with them. GO FIGURE! Jesus had enough compassion on others that he was kind and caring, and He drew people closer to Him. By going on your deleting frenzy you are not being kind or compassionate, and you are NOT furthering the Kingdom of God. Instead you are emotionally AND spiritually wounding people. What if these people one day need someone, a christian, or someone to friend them and pray with them. They may remember, "Ohhh! Jane Doe was always posting about going to church, I'm going to look her up..." But sadly, they can't find you because, well, you DELETED them. Now they are left alone, floundering, and may turn to the wrong kind of counsel. You just harmed the furthering of the Lord's work. You single handily pushed this person further away from God. I know that everyone has their own free will and if they TRULY needed God they would continue to look, but you have harmed that person's views of Christianity and an all loving God. So, next time you decide to clean out your Facebook because you are tired of some one's posts, then do me a favor. STOP. Hover over the corner of their post or name... Click on the arrow down, and instead of deleting them, hide them or unsubscribe from their feeds. You are still Facebook friends, but now, they can still see your posts about what the Lord is doing in your life, and one day may feel compelled to call upon you. Now isn't that what Jesus would do???? 
Paul goes on to say in Romans, "which is your reasonable service." Meaning, God's not asking too much of us. This a reasonable request to live a holy and pure life that is acceptable unto God. I don't like to hear excuses, though we ALL have them, but God is saying here, "Hey! It's not too hard, I'm not asking too much of you." It is a reasonable request to live for Him. So why do we struggle so much with just doing it? Like Nike's slogan, we Christians should live by their motto, "Just Do It." So why don't we stop, reevaluate our lives and "just do" what the Lord has asked, "...present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."