For what it's worth...

9.10.2009

"All things are lawful," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising question on the ground of conscience. For "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof." If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience -- I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do , not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.                                                                                   -- I Corinthians 10:23-33

 God has given me freedom in many areas, but He has been showing me over the past few weeks that although I may have freedom in these areas, out of respect for another brother or sister's conscience I should refrain from exercising this freedom. As I was reading this passage today, just a few minutes ago, I totally missed that last little sentence. "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." This sums it all up, doesn't it? If I am constantly imitating Christ, then I will be able to exercise freedom. But part of imitating Christ is refraining from exercising all of the freedom that I have been given. It's a radical thought for me, and for most Christians here in America. Have we not been taught from our early childhood that freedom is what our country was founded upon? As a homeschooled kid, I was taught that this freedom is given by God. I was taught that we have God-given rights, including the right to be free. It's radical that as a Christian I am supposed to limit my freedom. Would it not have been easier if God had just laid down the law, if He had just said what we can and can't do?

Up at Journey we studied different "bad" or "evil" heart attitudes. Part of one of the hearts was the fact that in order not to have this heart, we will have to limit ourselves. I hate lines, I hate rules, I hate being told what to do. But God is not demanding - that's the beauty of free will. Yet, as we are told in James, our faith in God is demonstrated by our works. My love of God should be enough to overcome what I want to do, to the point that I no longer want to gratify myself but to glorify God in everything that I do.

Staying here at Verity for the past week has been amazing. Going up to the Northwoods in Michigan was something that allowed me to both bond with my fellow students and to spend a great amount of time alone with God. Today instead of class before lunch Charity Larson told all of us students to just spend an hour alone with God. This post is one of the things that has stemmed from that. Where else, what other college can you go to that would skip class in order to spend time alone with God?

God is good indeed.