[GCFL-discuss] Soul Journey for May 29, 2004

[gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net]

SOUL JOURNEY

SATURDAY
MAY 29

Ephesians 4:17-24
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must
no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their
thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated
from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to
the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they
have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every
kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. 20 You, however,
did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of Him and
were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off
your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23
to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the
new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

STEALING OR BORROWING?
There was a problem on campus. At the Christian university where I
teach freshmen parttime, bicycles were disappearing. One of my
students told me that he had left his bike outside a classroom, and
when he returned, it was gone. He borrowed someone else's bike and
hunted down his pilfered pedals. He found it leaning up against the
side of a building quite a distance away.

In my classroom we were discussing writing essays, so I thought this
would be a great topic of discussion as we worked our way through
how to compose a paper on "Proposing a Solution." As we discussed
it, though, I was in for a surprise. One of the students in the
class revealed that he was sometimes one of the bike-takers. He told
us that he "just borrowed" bikes to get across campus. I told him
that if you take anything that belongs to someone else, even for a
short time, it's stealing. My student didn't think so.

Needless to say, we had some fun with that topic.

The discussion left me thinking about how difficult it is to
convince people in our society that there are real evils and actual
sinful acts that need to be avoided. Just as what I thought was
clearly stealing and a student thought to be borrowing, so the world
continues to re-define what we recognize as sin as just mistakes or
even acceptable actions.

That can leave us wondering: What is the standard for right actions?
What is the template we should all follow? Is our opinion our guide?
Or is there something clear and unmistakable that we can follow
without question?

As our society allows less and less standard-bearing--past
guidelines keep falling away in the name of freedom--are we willing
to stand on the rock-like foundation of biblical truth about right
and wrong?

To do that--to live by the Bible's standards--is to honor our God,
the One who set forth the standards that help us live life at its
best.  --Dave Branon

DESTINATION POINTS
* Do I find myself justifying activities that I know are wrong--even
things like gossiping, judging others, and lying? * What are three
things I've noticed on TV that are not God-honoring, yet I've
convinced myself that it's okay to watch them? Why do I do this?

LINKS:
Right & Wrong: A Case For Moral Absolutes
http://www.discoveryseries.org/q1107/

bottom line: New views on sin don't change God's standard.



What you propose Siarlys, is to personalizing the Bible for self without
recognizing God's absolute truths. That's TERRIBLY wrong!