Post by Richard on Feb 22, 2007 9:24:51 GMT -5
FAMILY RESEMBLANCE
_________________________
1 John 2:15-17 (NRSV)
Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world--the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches--comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.
_________________________
Don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
- James 4:4 (NIV)
_________________________
WHEN a friend or relative has a baby, one of the first things I ask is, "Whom does the child resemble?" Sometimes the answer is that the baby looks like the mother's family; other times I am told the baby is like the father's family. Usually, the baby is a combination, looking like both families.
Whom do we look like? Would someone say we resemble children of God? Or do we look like children of the world? Or do we resemble both? We are God's children, and God desires us to become more and more Christlike. Do our friends and co-workers know we are Christian? Even if we have never told them directly, can others know from our actions and our words that there is something special about us? Do they see the love of Christ in our actions? Or do we blend in with the culture around us, keeping our faith confined to our home and to Sundays?
As James says, we cannot be a friend to both God and the world. It won't work. God calls us to a different way.
Prayer: O God, help us to resist the temptation to be like the world. Teach us to become more Christlike in our daily living. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
How do I show my "family resemblance" to Christ?
-- Maryann Breukelman (Ontario, Canada)
PRAYER FOCUS: To see how we need to separate from the world
_________________________
1 John 2:15-17 (NRSV)
Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world--the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches--comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.
_________________________
Don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
- James 4:4 (NIV)
_________________________
WHEN a friend or relative has a baby, one of the first things I ask is, "Whom does the child resemble?" Sometimes the answer is that the baby looks like the mother's family; other times I am told the baby is like the father's family. Usually, the baby is a combination, looking like both families.
Whom do we look like? Would someone say we resemble children of God? Or do we look like children of the world? Or do we resemble both? We are God's children, and God desires us to become more and more Christlike. Do our friends and co-workers know we are Christian? Even if we have never told them directly, can others know from our actions and our words that there is something special about us? Do they see the love of Christ in our actions? Or do we blend in with the culture around us, keeping our faith confined to our home and to Sundays?
As James says, we cannot be a friend to both God and the world. It won't work. God calls us to a different way.
Prayer: O God, help us to resist the temptation to be like the world. Teach us to become more Christlike in our daily living. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
How do I show my "family resemblance" to Christ?
-- Maryann Breukelman (Ontario, Canada)
PRAYER FOCUS: To see how we need to separate from the world