Purity Of Purpose

Mark 9:30-32 "...But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him"

Here Jesus talks about the ultimate sacrifice which will calls for great commitment, his death, everything such as counting the cost, suffering for the Gospels sake, humility, is all here. The disciples were still in the mindset of Jesus as a king with pomp and military power, they wanted to see that picture. And so when he spoke of these 'other' things, they dared not discover it was true. Is this not the same for us… we make the bible and its words work for us, choosing what we will to make a point etc, making it speak what we want it to say, not reading what it says. When it comes to our defense of the way we dress, the music we listen too and the lives we lead, we cling to philosophies s of this world and not the Word. We pick out verses of prosperity and acceptance, we don't read the whole, and when we find verses about counting the cost, being set apart, living a holy life, humility, not causing your brother to stumble… we apply them to other things. Oh but never the way we dress, the appearances we give, the things we give our time to, what we allow to enter our minds or personal sacrifice beyond the 1st world's prepackaged 2k 2week tour to Africa.

The gospel needs to reach into every part of your life and heart. Right this moment I'm not about to address the specifics of how you live your life, how you dress, the appearances you give, the music you listen to. But I want you to open your hearts to is this. Never defend your lifestyle against what the Word speaks, don't choose the way you or your friends want it to be. Don't live in the bubble of your immediate culture and pressures. But in humility, come to God and his word with a broken spirit and a contrite heart, ready to let him mold every part of your life.

Because friends, brothers and sisters it breaks God's heart when a preacher get us up and preaches a sermon on something like music and the attitude of the people is not "Lord if this is your will I will follow it", but rather "if that's God, then I'm out of here". I'm not saying what the preacher might have said was either right or wrong, but your heart should be ready that if it was right, you would follow God wherever he leads. I see a people who will only follow God if his precepts fit with their concepts and ideas; as they meet God and start off the wide path which leads to death, onto the narrow path which leads to life, the path starts to narrow more as then go, when it reaches a point where they start to be challenged or remotely feel uncomfortable they simply stop, build a church and worship there every week, and to themselves they justify it by the fact they have found others who are prepared to do the same. But really, the path keeps going. Will we ever really understand what it means to give everything?

People, as psalm 51:17 says, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart. May your goal and reason in every part of your life always be to honor God and to hold back those stumbling to the slaughter, to render a pure witness, to not let your brother stumble, to seek a purity of purpose.