Journal Notes // July 20, 2022
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (ESV)
1 Corinthians 6:11
And such were some of you… We all need this reminder at times in our lives. A reminder that the blessing of God upon our lives does not mean that we are superior to anyone else. We can all get so caught up in the chaos of this world and the absolute anarchy against God that we see in those who hate the name of Jesus. We see a world that is working every angle to rebel against the commandments of God. It’s easy to see this and get angry. We want to be angry at sinners for being just that, sinners. Our self-righteousness wells up inside of us and we look down at the lost and get angry at them. We want to argue about politics and sports and patriotism and any other thing we deem important. We have little patience for the lost and rebellious because we have forgotten all that our Savior has done for us. We have forgotten that we too were once just like them. That we too were once enemies of Christ doing everything we could to rebel and break free from the righteous law of God.
I too have this inclination at times. I see so much evil and so much unrighteousness in the world and I want it to stop. Even with good righteous intentions, I want to see the laws of God being honored and obeyed by everyone. This is not bad in and of itself. It is good to want to see your country honor Christ. It is good to want righteous laws. It is good to want holy morals to pervade all the people. The error I see at times is that I begin to see myself or our leaders as the solution. I begin to think that getting the right law passed will help solve the problem. I begin to think that the right leader will get everything back on track. I begin to put my faith and hope in the wrong things. I let my mind become too worldly, instead of coming to Christ with intentional fervent prayer and asking for God to change the hearts and minds of the people in this country and around the world.
When I see the world acting in accordance to its fleshly desires, I should be humbled. Sinners acting like sinners should humble me and bring me to my knees. I too was counted among them at one time. I too was full of evil intent and at war with the God I love. So when I see someone railing against Christ, it should break my heart. It should stimulate me to share the love of Christ with them. It should move me to pray for they salvation. This is what the world needs. It needs people everywhere to experience this same salvation and heart change that only Jesus can bring about. It should motivate me to pray that everyone I encounter will be washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of Jesus.
Father, I need this humility in my life. I need to remember that I too was once just as they are. That I too was counted among those who hated you. That I too sought to gratify the desires of my flesh. And if I am honest with myself, that is still there. There is still this nagging desire to leave the One I love and turn back to Egypt and slavery to sin. Lord, teach me to look inwardly when I see sinners acting like sinners. Teach me to examine my heart for those same wicked intentions and to repent. Bring the light of your gospel into the deep recesses of my heart and clear out those sinful habits and desires that still cling tightly. Remind me daily that my heart can easily wander away from you. Continue to bind yourself to me. Continue to lift my head and look into my eyes. Teach me to gaze at the beauty and wonder of Christ. Let me love people, all people, as Jesus demonstrated in the gospels. Let my heart break for the hurting and the lost. May I be a source of righteous influence in the lives of the people you bring into my life. May people walk away from me having experienced Jesus in some deep engaging manner.