"We need the yellow lines on a road even though they can't stop a car from swerving into the wrong lane and having a head-on collision. Though the lines are unable to stop a driver who wants to ignore them, they do help drivers who want to avoid danger."
So if life was a journey (bear with me here =p), then there is clearly a line separating a sinful life and a godly life. Here in Australia, we have dotted lines and solid lines. Dotted lines allow a driver to cross it sometimes, according to his or her own judgment on whether it is safe or not. Solid lines, you can never cross. With sin and God, there is a clearly marked solid line. There is no grey area with sin, there's black and white. And as Josh says, they are not physical barriers that can stop someone from driving head on into imminent death, the solid line is there to help drivers who want to avoid danger.
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For those of you who know me very well, you know that I am constantly thinking, I think too much sometimes. My brain likes to jump back and forth into the red zone of your x1000 revs/min odometer.
I don't know what it means for a Christian to be blogging and hopefully I can get to that thought by the end of this, but here are some reasons I think I started to write:
1. I like to write, I don't know how good I am at it, but I like to write. Back when I was free to do pretty much whatever I wanted in higher level English, it was my favourite subject. Of course, during Year 12 I hated English but I like to say I hated HSCEnglish. One word - HSCEnglish.
2. It's a way to filter all my thoughts. I shared one of my thoughts to a friend the other day and got the understated reply "you're random". Just today, I was bombarded with o.O faces. Also, a downside to your brain running at high speed is that some of your thoughts aren't so... wholesome. And that's part of the battle with sin, but nonetheless, there are a lot of things I'm ashamed of and I'd rather take the time to dwell on some of the more wholesome.
3. My brain runs at high speeds, but unlike some people I find difficult to understand (and sometimes I point it out at their own expense =p), my mouth doesn't keep up. I don't happen to talk a lot because I don't feel secure about speaking for fear of tactlessness or sending the wrong message or just in general being outspoken. Instead I retreat to my little corner and watch and observe as people live out their own lives.
4. I struggle with being a good witness. I'm, as Pastor Dale said last Sunday service, not a gifted evangelist. I don't have the right words to say when put on the spot, and I don't have the right timing. But as I have been praying about it I think God, on His own terms, has lead me here. A lot of my friends are not Christians, and I don't know how to bring up salvation in everyday conversation. A lot of people don't want to talk about it, and I guess although the best way is to discuss issues so important as this, some people just feel more comfortable listening, or reading, than to be so directly involved in such a tabooed issue as spirituality. I trust that since God has lead me to this place, here and now, that He has prepared me to be faithful in the Way and the Truth and draw those willing.
Romans 10:14
How then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
And so if you're reading this and thinking it's religious babble, its not. I am not religious. My prayer is only that I may share my thoughts with you, and among these thoughts, that I am willing to share those that bear witness to my Lord and Saviour.
I want to conclude with something I recently read about opposition leader Tony Abbott. He said 'Politicians are going to be judged by everything they say, but sometimes in the heat of discussion, you go a little bit further than you would if it was an absolutely, uh, calm, considered, prepared, scripted remark. Which is one of the reasons why the, the the statements that need to be taken as absolutely as, as gospel truth is those carefully prepared, scripted remarks.' (Note he likes to stutter a lot)
It reminds me of a saying back in cadets that probably derived from the Australian Army itself: "Do as I say, not as I do," leaders would joke. Obviously, we're taught that this is not the case, and we must also lead by example. For my Christian brothers and sisters, we should be a beacon in this world, but our light comes from Jesus. We must strive to be more like Christ in order that we may please Him, and so that we may show by example, to those who seek Jesus through us, the preachers of Romans 10:14.
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