Have you ever asked yourself – who does God see when I wake into the day? What kind of difference do I make when I’m about in the day – regardless of how many ‘things’ I’m involved with? Who does the defining… me? the Lord? the details and/or things? And I could probably indicate a few other vying, clamoring voices. But what/who are the important contenders? More important… who’s in charge?
There’s an old phrase that’s been running around church-ese for eons – when you wake into the day, the devil says ‘crap, (s)he’s up again’. It’s meant to be humorous but it should be fact. However… what is fact? How do you wake into the day? And if you could, would that be what the devil would say? If not, would you like that to be your epitaph, how the devil views you?
It really isn’t particularly difficult for the devil to have that reaction… and it has everything to do with you – your attitude, your priorities, your expressions (behavior), your you. Even with all we know from scripture, there are those believers who seem to try and hide… from every and anything spiritual. You do realize that you are in one or the other ‘camps’ – there’s no such thing as neutral. However, we aren’t to simply sit down and wait.
This points to the ‘so what’. It is crucially important. When you are saved… you are saved to as much as being saved from what was/is. And Paul tells us that we are to work out our salvation – Philippians 2:12. Do you think that was just an idle comment by Paul? Look at Ephesians 2:10 and I could go on. Salvation isn’t just a ‘trump’ card you play when you die.
“So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective]. But someone may say, “You [claim to] have faith and I have [good] works; show me your [alleged] faith without the works [if you can], and I will show you my faith by my works [that is, by what I do].” You believe that God is one; you do well [to believe that]. The demons also believe [that], and shudder and bristle [in awe-filled terror—they have seen His wrath]! [James 2:17-19]
So the ‘so what’ is important. It is a mark of who you became and are becoming because God, in His grace and mercy, made a way for us all to be part of His family. That way is called – Jesus, Acts 4:12.
