Secular
*note, this is my devotional. IF you are getting too many of these, let me know, and I will reduce you to the once a week crowd smile emoticon
Joshua 24:15choose you this day whom ye will serve; as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
God used to have a division between the spiritual and the secular. The spiritual things were done in the Holy of Holies. Normal life was carried on outside. There was a huge curtain separating the Holy from the Worldly. When Jesus died on the cross, that curtain was torn, from top down. That was the moment that the secular things and the Godly things for believers became as one. God left the Holy of Holies.
Again, I am not teaching, I am just writing my opinion, This is a Journal of my thoughts. I hope it helps others navigate through this obstacle course we call FAITH. Christians, especially those in the occupations of accounting, engineering etc. LOVE to compartamentalize things. Engineers LOVE to say, ‘a place for everything and everything in their place’. Problem is, IF you are living a life halfway acceptable to the Lord, THAT type of thinking doesn’t work, because of one little detail, OTHERS! The only reason we are still here after we accept the Lord is to help OTHERS to know God. The only way OTHERS will KNOW God, is by seeing HIM walked out in our lives as we follow Jesus.
Years ago I was told that there was an old man down here who bought a lottery ticket on his way to church every Saturday morning. *He was a 7th day Adventist*. Everyone knew he did. Everyone knew the number he played. Well, he died one day. We bury people down here QUICK because we don’t embalm the corpses. Right after he got buried, the lottery came up on tv. HIS lottery number won. The whole family tore the house apart looking for the ticket that they knew he had bought. As it turned out, HE BOUGHT THE LOTTERY TICKET ON THE WAY TO CHURCH. He had only one suit, which he wore to church every Saturday morning. After getting permission, the family dug up the body, and sure enough, there was the lottery ticket in his suit coat pocket. Christians do their best when it comes to church stuff. If it isn’t church stuff, they kind of let their guard down. In church they don’t like to clown around. Often times they tend to dress better, and never argue with their family etc. when others are around. They want to look good for other Christians and for God. There is nothing bad with that. It is good.
Doing our best shouldn’t only be for church on Sunday. It should be for the rest of the week as well. It kind of comes down to secular things or worldly things. I blow it all the time, whether in church or not. I try NOT to as well, whether I am in church or not. Whether it is 3 am when no one is around, or 11 am in church on Sunday morning, or during the week doing whatever I am doing. Whether I am successful or not is almost a stroke of luck, it has nothing to do with where I am nor what I am doing.
I try anyway to NOT have a secular life only, or a Godly life only. For me, If you are a Christian, every moment of every day should be lived as if in the presence of God. This isn’t an excuse to be an unemployable, unlikeable wierdo. If you are on the job, talk about the job, not Jesus to the customers. A lady once said she was discriminated against because she was a Christian, and she was fired because she was telling people about Jesus. Turns out, she was a librarian. Librarians walk around say SHHHHHHH! She was walking around telling people about Jesus. She didn’t get fired for her faith, she got fired for disobedience. However, IF she had been living to serve God in all areas, she would have been obedient. She would have not been talking in a library where talking is prohibited. If I were her boss, I would have fired her too.
I take a lot of heat because I only wear on pair of tennis shoes, I don’t use a watch. I don’t wear a hat or use sunglasses. Worse even, I don’t walk around carrying a Bible. I don’t even drive very much.
I get asked why I don’t, and I don’t have a good answer. The fact is, I haven’t been doing those things for so long that I have forgotten the answer, but I do have one. I was just reminded of the answer to why I don’t do those things the other day. My feet have been hurting. The other day I had a business visit, so I wore the one other pair of shoes I have, specifically for business! *I wear my tennis shoes to church*.
When I wore my business shoes, my feet didn’t hurt. So I decided to wear them all the time. The NEXT day, as I was doing my rounds, I got hit up for my shoes. NO one has ever asked me for my nasty tennis shoes! But man, the first guy I talked to, looked down at my shiny shoes, and asked me for them for his ‘neighbor’. Man this guy would not lighten up on trying to snag my wingtips!!! I REMEMBERED all of a sudden why I don’t walk around with Bible, hat, watch, shoes, sunglasses, drive my car alone, etc etc. Because people ALWAYS ask me for my stuff, and I give it to them. I don’t drive because if a lady or kids need a ride, I will give it to them, and that opens me up to all kinds of liability. On top of that, ALL OF IT GETS REALLY EXPENSIVE!
So I just stopped doing it. I am not saying this pridefully, I am saying this shamefully. WHAT a better witness than to give you shoes to someone who is in need. If you believe in the Word of God, YOU SHOULD give away every Bible you have. *I have ONE Bible, in my house, that I read when no one is around.* But I don’t need it, I have a smart phone. I was trying to be secular with my stuff. Everything I have is God’s. I should have an open hand, for His Glory, that is the only reason we are here, to SHOW God’s love, not to hord a bunch of stuff. I don’t feel we should separate our lives between God stuff and secular stuff. I think we should be the same, no matter where we are or who we are with. Alone or in a crowd. At work, or in church, or in your bed at night.
Dean Peters