The days are evil

Complacent christians are both an oximoron and an abomination. How long will we remain carnal? How long will God put up with our materialism and selfish living? How pethetic can we get when we call ourselves christian soldiers and yet throw off our armour, and spend our days in inactive duty when we are called to fight?

Do we not remember that the days are evil? That we are not going to live forever? We would rather spend our days pretending we are going to live forever, rather than comes to terms with our own mortality on earth. We are so scared with the thought of death, the word itself has become taboo. Even funerals now are huge "celebration of life". Sounds wonderful, but didn't the bible say it was a time to mourn and a time to reflect upon our own breivity like dust to help us to teach us to number our days? Even Jesus, when he heard that Lazerus died, wept... he wept even knowing he would be raising Lazerus again. Why? because death is against God's order. It was part of the curse. Death is horrible. That doesn't mean we go around masking it. Nor fearing it.

Death can be a great tool for us. Like I said it teaches us to number our days. We would all do better to keep death in our minds. We have all heard it said"live like there is no tommorow". Many have mistaken that to mean get in as much fun and earthly pleasures as possible... I suppose that IS all there is to those who know not God, but that should NEVER be the thought on any christians mind. Sadly, it is... though they may say with their mouths that they know that isnt what it means, they certainly act in a way that that does not live up to that. ("These people honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me...") Our culture doesn't help with that... we have become spoiled brats. But, I will speak more on that at another time.

To get back to the issue of death, Do you know when you are going to die? Could be 80 years from now, could be tommorow, could be 10 seconds from now. Think about that and let it sink in for a moment. You could be killed in an accident tommorow. Do your thoughts take that warning seriously, or does your mind think 'it could, but not likely, I won't worry about it', 'that happenes to other people, not to me', 'odds are, I'll be here for a lot longer". It's the issue of dying, isn't it. It isnt real to us. Go spend some time in a cemetery for a while and ponder those thoughts. Because in the end, it doesn't matter how much time we have left, even if it is many years...GOD CALLS US TO LIVE AS A SOLDIER OF CHRIST EVERY DAY, EVERY MOMENT, EVERY SECOND, WITH EVERY THOUGHT, WITH EVERY ACTION. WE AS CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS HAVE NO DOWN TIME. WE HAVE NO 'SPARE' TIME FOR OUR OWN PURPOSES. WE ARE IN THE HEAT OF THE BATTLE FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES.

God calls us to battle every day. When we are not in the thick of war, we are out preparing for battle. We are sharpening our swords. We are regrouping and getting our new battle orders. SHAME ON US IF WE EVER FAIL TO LIVE UP TO THAT, when we let 'life' just happen to us.

Keep death on your minds. Realize how short time is. Even 120 years is a short life in light of what eternity is. Keep death in your mind to remind you that you are accountable to God for your faithfulness in battles. Do not use the blood of the cross that blots out sin as your excuse for not doing what you are supposed to. Yes, thanks be to God for what he has done and His payment on our behalf, but that is only half the story, he rewards you for the things you have done, for the battles you fight, for your faithfullness to him. God NEVER taught "cheap grace". I don't know about you, but I'm looking foreward to a great reward.

We have but a few short days on earth. Do not waste them. Are the things you do part of the battle God has prepared you to do? If you really did live each day as though you were going to die tommorow, would your day change drasticly? Would you spend so many hours watching sports? fooling around on the computer? Vacationing for you own pleasure? Watching movies and going to the theater (which mock God in the first place)? How would you spend money differently? How would you treat family members differently? How would your relationships change with other people? How would you walk in truth differently? What things would you prepare for your loved ones if you were to die? If what you are doing now is not for the glory of God but for your own personal enjoyment, rethink it. Personal enjoyment comes form God's work, and through rightoeus fights well fought. Don't think that what I say is on the extreme side... God's word says that as christians, that is our MINIMUM!

So truly, Don't just live like you could die tommorrow... Live like you will never have another today. Once today is gone, its now yesterday, you cannot make up that time again.

Let's not be spoiled, materialistic, self centered brats. Let's remember the duty God has called us to. Not just a little here, a little there... every moment.

(P.S. For those of you who have seen "The bucket list" this is NOT the example of a christian vision for how to spend your last days 'if you were to die tommorrow', nor the characterization of what is 'important in life' as per the end of the movie. The movie is Deistic and Humanistic. For those who have long forgotten what disernment is, will not catch the underlying motivation of the film that teaches the mockery of the One true God whom christians are supposed to serve. Either we are VERY ignorant as christians, or our 'christianity' is that of Deism and humanism. I'm very afraid it may be the latter. Look at that, you get a movie review to go with my blog :) )