Christian Jaywalkers
Sunday’s Monday
This has been a week of enlightenment for me. I have spent more time than usual with Christian men who expand my spiritual wisdom and increase my resolve to follow Jesus. I love it, as we share our lives with each other and speak openly of our diverse walks with Jesus. Pat and I know we receive an overload of God’s grace and mercy each and every day and we are seriously thanking Him for it. We pray the same is true for you!
Today’s subject even surprised me! I’m not sure when or what I was doing but sometime during this week God gave me jaywalking as the weekly thought. Several times this word popped up in my brain for no apparent reason other than God, put it there to share. So here we go! I first, looked up the proper definition in dictionary.com for jaywalking which read, to cross a street at a place other than a regular crossing or in a heedless manner, as diagonally or against a traffic light. My simple definition for jaywalking is; “lazy shortcuts”, taking an easier shorter way regardless of risk. I’m going to ask the question, how many of us Christians are consistent jaywalkers? God has a warning for us in, Matthew 7:13 (MSG), “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. I battle with this issue everyday and should you be honest, so do you! It is human nature (the flesh) that causes the impulse to cheat in order to save time, effort, irritation and in some cases even avoid conviction. None of us are perfected yet, which lead some to desire superiority in public but in our quite time, find it hard to deal with. Ergo our quite time with God is easily skipped, after we rush through a short devotional and even shorter prayer. We performed a virtual meaningless act (jaywalking) to stay in accordance with our Christian (churchly) commitment. Again, God warns us in, Proverbs 10:4 (MSG), Sloth makes you poor; diligence brings wealth. Or as it reads in (NLT), Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich. Instantly most of your mind will go to money and things, however it would be wise to consider one’s spiritual wealth. I am sure you’ve heard the term poor in spirit or spiritually bankrupt. I know that a lot of Christians are living life based on Matthew 5:3 (KJV), Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. However, this verse is better explained in The Message (MSG), “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. I heard Billy Graham say to replace the word poor with the word humble and it would read Blessed are the humble in spirit: “no jaywalking allowed!” Matthew 6:21 (MSG), It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. God is a collector of His creation however He has standards which equates to a wealthy spirit. Fact; most who hold worldly treasure will attest, wealth comes through great effort and sacrifice. Such as sleepless nights, long days, tons of responsibility, lots of stress, worry, anxiety and the list goes on. Such effort and dedication don’t stop once the wealth is acquired, it has to continue for as long as the wealth is possessed. Again, the bible warns us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (MSG), 19 Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. 20 God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body. It’s no big secret for those of understanding, God judges from what He sees on the inside of you while the world judges you from what they see on the outside. If we profess to be Jesus followers on Sunday and the world doesn’t see us that way Monday through Saturday, the word hypocrite comes to mind!” As Joe Dillard would say, “a person will not live contrary to what he or she really believes (not exact wording but very close). The point is; Christians must become open and honest at the feet of Jesus about who and what they are to God. Then the healing can begin, no more jaywalking as we walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Look upon Jesus as our ultimate crossing guard with full authority to guide our steps. My we meet with Him daily and allow Him to direct our steps.
HAVE A BLESSED WEEK BY BEING A BLESSING TO OTHERS!
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