Yes it is good to be home even though it is incredibly hot where I live. Had a good time with the family but it is always good to get home. It is also good to see that the world has not fallen apart since I was gone for 10 days. My house is still standing and the dog and the plants all survived (Thanks Nathan). The people in my church didn't figure out that they can survive without me so I still have a job. I don't have anything significant to say and I don't even have any vacation pictures to add. I just wanted to say that I am back and it is good to be home.
Last week I came across a tragic but beautiful story out of Washington. Click here to link to the article that I read on Yahoo news. Originally I had watched a piece on the Northwest Cable News network about this story.
It is a story of sacrifice and love of a husband for his wife and their friend as well. The three of them were on a day hike on Mount Rainier in Washington State when they were overwhelmed by a blizzard and were forced to seek shelter on the mountain for the night. They dug a trench in the snow and the the husband Eduard layed down in the bottom of the trench on the snow while the other two layed on top of him. Refusing to switch positions with the other two hikers, he took the brunt of the cold. When help arrived the next morning, he was the last to be rescued and the efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
"And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her." - Ephesians 5:25
Though tragic, this story is a beautiful picture of the sacrificial love that husbands are to have for their wives. If is also a great illustration of the sacrifice that Christ made for us.
This may be a bizzare post to some of you but I got to thinking about this in my morning devotionals. I was reading Proverbs 5-7 which has much to say about immoral women. Solomon warns us to stay away from immoral women because they will be our downfall. Proverbs 5:7-8 sums up much of what is said, "So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: Run from her(the immoral woman)! Don't go near the door of her house!"
How true these verses are. We are all weak because we are fragile people who are born with a sin nature. Often times it does not take much to push us towards sin because we have a bentness towards sin. When we spend time around immoral people it becomes increasinly difficult to win the battle against sin and temptation. Especially when it comes to relationships between men and women. The desires for love and acceptance, which are from God no doubt, are so strong that we will often times lay aside our morals in order to please the other person.
I speak about this from experience. I dated a girl in high school that did not have a good reputation for possessing high morals. I don't know how else to state that without being rude. Although we have lost touch and I don't imagine that she will be reading this blog any time soon. It wasn't that she was a bad person, she was actually kind and quite nice, but she had a different standard for intimacy in a dating relationship. It is hard to say but biblically she was an immoral woman. Being a young man of 17 I did not know how to handle her advances and instead of running for the hills like proverbs instructs us I went along with her. This put me in a position that I didn't want to be in but there I was.
I am not blaming her at all because she was acting according to what she thought was right. If anything in God's eyes I was the one who was more in the wrong because as his child I knew better and yet chose the path of the world. I never did ask her for forgiveness for not being a man of standards and it would probably strike her as rather weird if I did it now thirteen years later.
So why I am sharing this with you all. First of all God put it on my heart this morning. I also know that many of you out there, especially you young men, will struggle with boundaries in dating relationships. I urge you first and foremost to not enter into a relationship with a individual who does not share God's standards of sexual purity with you. Second, remember that none of us are strong enough to withstand temptation on our own strength but that we must rely on the spiritual resources that God has given us through the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, run for the hills when that immoral woman looks you way. Run for the hills, you will thank me later.
While I was in Seattle this past week I picked up a CD that I really enjoy. It is all four-part accapella. The group called A Moment In Time was performing at Pikes Place Market. One of the songs on the CD is Lean on Me. As I listened to this classic song again I began to realize how much gospel truth is in that song. If each of us would live life according to this song how much more would we be living out the gospel. God never intended for people to live life on their own. Remember what he said about Adam before creating Eve. It is not good for man to be alone. This doesn't mean that everyone should be married, but it does mean that we should all be living in community. The purpose of this community is to help each other out in life. Yes, God is a very present help in times of trouble, but we also must remember that the Church is to function as the Body of Christ. This means that we are to minister as Christ ministered. We are to enter into people's hurts and pains and extend comfort and hope. To help the afflicted and the lost.
Just some thoughts I wanted to share with you all.
Last week I had a chance to spend sometime with a friend up in the Seattle area. On my flight to Seattle I was fortunate enough to have a window seat. It struck me again as I am sure it has the rest of you when you have flown how small everything seems from the air. How interconnected everything is. How what seems to be a long drive in a car seems just a stones through away as you view it from the air. I thought about this as I was flying along. About how life as big and as out of control as it may seem isn't always that way. How God is in control of all of these things. How he has placed you and me where we are to be in order to serve a purpose there.
I guess that is all for today. Sorry for such a short post.
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