Each choice in life is pivotal as even what seems to be the simplest decision can lead to unforeseen, far-reaching consequences. While there are few unchangeable decisions, it often is difficult to turn around and head in the direction from whence we came. It seems like a waste of both time and energy to walk up the same hill again, yet if lessons have been learned on the erroneous path, waste does not occur.
As Christians, the ultimate decision typically involves brokenness. When life is not working out the way we planned, desired or hoped, we often try harder. Each person has an individual breaking point, when they finally grasp it is not going to change. That brokenness can come from drug abuse, sickness, loss of relationship, loss of career or any number of other possibilities. Yet when we try to fill the emptiness in our souls, only Jesus can fill that void. The ultimate decision is when we decide to follow Him.
What seems to be a forward path rarely proceeds directly. Instead, there are mountains and valleys; right turns and left turns; and tumbles and falls, with bumps and bruises along the way. Sometimes, the new path intersects the old path again. When our eyes are focused on Jesus, we ignore that intersection and proceed on the path toward the Lord. Yet our former master, the devil, reminds us of the pleasure associated with our old sin. If we are listening to the Holy Spirit, we realize that Satan reveals only a modicum of truth, as pleasure was only a small portion of the past. Instead, God reminds us of the permeating brokenness involved in our sinful choices. Many Christians still choose that old sinful path, and once again, find themselves moving in the wrong direction.
In Matthew 18, Jesus teaches us how to handle a brother who has sinned against us. First, we are to go to the brother. This does not say anything about a phone call, a letter or an email, but instead, a journey. Going to the brother rather than requiring the brother to come to us demonstrates humility. Yet if that does not bring restitution, our next step according to Jesus is to take others with us on another journey to the brother. Humility continues and with witnesses involved, a difference of opinion can be overruled by logic. Yet if that step also fails, Jesus gives us a third part of the process, to take the matter before the church. If there is still not repentance, the church is to accomplish the most difficult of tasks, according to the writings of Paul:
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1 Corinthians 5:1-5
What seems to us like harsh judgment actually involves the most loving decision. Delivering a fellow believer to Satan, according to the verse above, is to destroy the flesh, not the Spirit! The situation at the Church of Corinth had to do with sexual immorality, but any ostentatious venture into sin without repentance earns the same procedures and treatment. Once the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the life of a believer, He is there to stay. The Holy Spirit is not looking to move to a better place, like “The Jeffersons.” Neither are there foreclosures on His present home. He continues to reside in the believer even with the choice to walk with Satan on that sinful path again. There is no more painful or desolate life than that of a believer who has walked away from God. For the Lord will allow Satan to bring abject poverty into that life. Brokenness will occur again, as Satan will destroy the flesh, which is the pride that has crept back into the life of the wayward believer. When that brokenness occurs, it is time for another “about-face.”
God’s love is amazing! Anytime we are willing to turn around and face Him again, He is willing to take us back into His arms! That kind of unconditional love is not what we are accustomed to in our interpersonal relationships, but God’s love is unlike anything we ever have experienced. Are there still ramifications of our sinful choices? Yes, but those consequences are limited to this world. For example, if a believer falls away from the Lord and is arrested for committing murder, the Lord’s forgiveness still exists, but the believer likely will serve a prison sentence. While the time in prison may be difficult, God will continue to hold the hand of the one convicted. He never will leave us or forsake us! Paul found a captive audience in the times he spent in prison. God can continue to use us no matter where we are, as long as our vessel is clean. That cleanliness involves repentance and the forgiveness of our sins.
Have you walked away from the Lord? He desires to fellowship closely with you again! Just as God gently called out to Adam after the initial sin, He calls out to us in our sin. We break God’s heart when we sever that relationship, but it does not surprise Him. Because He never will let go of us, He knows that we will come back to Him, and exactly when that will happen. When we come back, the Lord restores the years that the swarming locust has eaten (Joel 2:25). That means that God will bring us to the place He desires us to be; He completes the work is us. All we need to do is decide to follow Him. If you are on the wrong path, turn around. Recommit your life to Jesus. He will welcome you back into His arms!
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Matthew 6:24
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