Last week we went to a restaurant
for lunch. I had a coffee shake to drink and I enjoyed it
immensely. But when we got home, we all went to bed for a nice
Sunday afternoon nap. Now I don't get a lot of those with my two
small boys, so this nap was very special to me. I snuggled in and
was ready for my wonderful rest, when something happened. I
couldn't sleep. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't fall asleep.
I was so frustrated, as I rarely get the chance to have a nap and
now when I do, I couldn't use it. I instinctively knew it was the
caffeine of the coffee shake keeping me awake. I couldn't believe
it! At one stage I could drink 3 cups of filter coffee 10 o'clock
at night and still have a good night's rest. But then I realized,
my body is not used to it any more. I don't drink coffee any more.
So any drop of caffeine will have a negative effect on me. It is
probably like any substance. If you smoke your first cigarette it
will give you a rush. When you smoke your tenth one, the rush will
be a little bit less. If you smoke your hundredth, you will need a
bit more and so your body gets used to it. The same with drinking,
the more you drink alcohol, the more you need to be on the same
station you were when you had your first drink. It escalates every
time.
And so it is the same with getting
used to the things of the world. If you watch a movie when you are
in primary school and they swear in the movie you will be shocked.
When you enter high school, it will take more than swearing to
shock you, and when you go to college or varsity even more
vulgarity is needed to shock you. We get used to the things of this
world.
When I started at my first job, the
people there drank a lot. They partied at all the work functions
and always on Friday nights after work. It was a standard. Their
whole personalities changed and they became vulgar and did things
they normally wouldn't. It shocked me. I hated going to the events,
but I had to. And you know what, as time moved on it affected me
less and less. I started to get used to it and after three years at
the firm, it was the norm for me. It was how things were done.
The Lord helped me not to get involved with them and join
them, but I didn't see anything wrong with what they did after a
while. It was only one day in my quiet time with the Lord that He
spoke to me and reminded me that that was not the norm. That what
they were doing was not okay. It actually shocked me how quickly I
became accustomed to it and how quickly I accepted it.
We are part of the world, we cannot
escape it. You will probably be shocked on a daily basis as you
watch the news. But remember that we are not of the world. We
cannot become accustomed to it and we cannot sit back and accept
it. This is not what the Lord planned for His People. We are to be
different, and through being different, we need to attract people
to the Lord. We can still enjoy ourselves and we can still have
fun, but we need to remember that we are Jesus' body here on earth
and we need to make a difference.
Lord, this world is a mess. We know
You never intended it to end up this way, but our sinful nature
took control and ruined everything. Help us now to take a stand for
You and not become complacent, but to be the people You created us
to be. In Jesus Name. Amen