Lions

Source: upi.com

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you have a lion in your house. Yes, that's right. You have a ferocious beast in your house. 

If I'm totally honest, I have a lion in my house too. In fact, he is with me wherever I go. 

His name? Sin. This is the nasty destructive lion that follows us around wherever we go. 

But why? Why do we have this lion that follows us? Why don't we get rid of him? For some of us it started years ago. A cute little lion showed up at our doorstep wanting food. We could feed it or the Spirit. We could have the company of the lion or the Spirit, but not both. We chose to feed the lion. 

Over the years the lion has grown in size. Suddenly it's not as easy to feed the lion. It always wants more. He promises satisfaction, but it's fleeting at best. He is always wanting us to up the ante. The fleeting pleasure is sweet. The thought of more is tantalizing. 

So we feed him. We turn to him for pleasure instead of the Spirit. 

We've tried to hide him as best we could, but we are always worried that he is going to come out at the worst moment and expose us. We are always keeping one eye on the hiding place and praying that we can get through another day without the lion coming out.  

We've thought about becoming free from the lion. We daydream about a life where we don't have to fear the lion. a life where I can be free from the lions grasp. A life when I can let people get close. A life where we can live without fear that people will find out about the lion. Yet we don't throw it out. 

The problem is that the lion knows when you are tired and discouraged. It knows when to kill the prey. Slowly and painfully it will destroy you, your close friendships, your ministry, and your witness. It will claw and gnaw at your very life.  

Suddenly that cute little lion that we let in and fed all those years ago has become a monster that we can't control. Worse, it's eating away at everything and everyone we love. 

Such is sin. It is no laughing matter. What may have one appeared cute and harmless is now eating away at your very soul. 

If I ended it here, this would be a bleak picture indeed. But there is one who has killed the lion. There is one who never let in the lion. Not even a little cute lion. He lived among us, but He did not succumb to the sin that we fall prey to. 

On the cross He let all of our lions devour Him.  He stretched out His hands in surrender and let the lions devour Him. In that moment He lost that closeness of fellowship He had always shared with His Father. He felt the full weight of our sin. He died being devoured by the lies that naw at us every day. 

Praise God! This is not the end of the story! Christ conquered the lions. He let them destroy His life, but then He rose again! God brought about the victory over sin forever! 

This is the best news for us who live among the lions. We can conquer! Because He conquered, He invites us to share in His victory! We don't have to live in fear of the lion. We can conquer the lion. With God working in us and strengthening us, we can daily walk in the Spirit and not be the slave of the lion. 

We all have a lion that lives with us, but we can choose who we choose to feed. We can choose who we will walk with. We can choose who we serve. 

Praise God! He gives us freedom to be slaves to Christ!

Asking The Wrong Question

I have been asking the wrong question and I think the answer that I have been giving myself was as wrong as this question. 

The question was: What if I never get married? What then?

On the surface there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with this question. I was encouraged to consider this question a few years ago and have been mulling over it ever since. But I think it is a wrong question. Why?

Recently I was up late thinking. In my half awake state I felt like this question floated to the top of my mind. Then God's thoughts started invading. What if I have been asking the wrong question? What if instead of asking what if I never get married, I asked what if God chooses that for His glory and my best that I remain single?  

It may seem like I'm asking the same question, but I realized a big difference between the two. The difference was who the focus is on. If I am the focus of my story then I will end up sad and disillusioned. But if I chose to make God the center of the story I end up satisfied in Him. 

It's like I'm on a stage. I can choose to run onto center stage and demand that the spotlights focus on me. But promoting myself and my supposed worth leaves me empty and hopeless. What if instead I went out on that stage, but let the light illuminate the True Center of this story? When I highlight His goodness and love and let Him be the center, lives change for His glory. This gives me peace and hope. 

I'm not perfect at this yet. I'm still learning to ask better questions and let God be God in all of my life. He is so patient and loving. He cares for me and loves me more than I will ever know. Living a life that is completely His and that honors Him is what I strive for. Living a life that spotlights Him is a worthy goal. 

Ultimately you and I are not our own. You are not your own. You were bought with a price therefore glorify God with your body. 

Let us strive today offer all of our ourselves as a holy sacrifice to God. For His glory and our greatest good.