On the Side of the Road...

Recently, I've gotten heavy into The Classic Crime, and I am currently stuck on one song: "Salt in the Snow." It is a cry of desperation for help from God, but in it, the writer makes a great observation. He says, "Give me wings, give me peace, these are the things that I need. I'm tormented, broken and chained...and give me shelter from the storm. I know it's a lot to ask for, considering how recent I've piled the dirt on your name."

How often do we do that? How often do we do whatever we please, and then turn around and ask God to help us out when the consequences come our way? We can't have our cake and eat it too. We either live our lives the way we want and expect nothing of God, or we live for God. I know, I know...it's not that black and white. But why isn't it black and white?

Paul says in Romans 6: "Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! We died to sin! How can we who died to sin, live in it any longer?" Paul's thought is simple. Christ freed us from sin, why do we continue to subject ourselves to living in its grasp day-in and day-out?

No, I haven't forgotten what Paul says in Romans 7 about "I have this to be a law within me, when I want to good, evil lies close at hand." Paul says there, "I do not do the good things my mind tells me I should do, instead I do the evil things I know I shouldn't." How are these reconcilable? On the surface, they aren't. However, Paul isn't very "surface-friendly."

Paul says in Romans 6 that we are free from sin and its hold over our lives, so we should no longer live in the sins that control us. In chapter 7, though, he says that he has a battle going on that tests him every day. With his mind and soul, he desires to please God, but his physical body still wants things for itself. It's a thin line to walk.

Please don't take this to mean that I think I'm perfect or that we can be. That's an absolute lie. I do sin, and, unfortunately, that sin sometimes runs rampant in my life. It's at those times I need to check up and go before God and ask Him to cleanse me. It's at that time I need to cut things out of my life that aren't good for me. My goal and desire is to live my life to glorify God, which means that I cannot have anything other than Him controlling my life.

This last Wednesday night, I talked a bit about consequences. Every action has a consequence, whether good or bad. Unfortunately, the act that we perform, whatever that may be, is not a stand alone event. There are things I've done in my past that will affect me for the rest of my life, and I have to accept that. I can't go to God and say, "Hey, I didn't really know what I was doing when I did that, so, can you, maybe, stop the effects of it?" God doesn't work that way.

Instead, allows us to learn. That's part of this ability to choose what we do. We have to take the good with the bad. Take heart, though! Paul does give us a promise of God we can cling to: "We, who love God and are called by Him, know that everything that happens will work out for something positive later in our lives." Usually, that turns out to be a teaching experience, where we can pass on wisdom.

So, what does this mean? It means that we should accept the consequences of our actions and know that God loves us. He has given us a way to defeat sin in our lives.

This song, combined with a great blog on Transparency, have greatly shaped this post. So I'll leave you with a final thought:
"Is this where I am for Your sake, stuck between sleep and awake? My mind is dreaming of things. Are you listening? I took You for granted again and threw you aside and pretended for one minute that I had control of my life and the direction it seemed to be in. I was wrong again. I've heard that winter's cold will give way to summer's warmth. Oh no! Like salt in the snow, I'm melted and left all alone on the side of the road."

Be like salt in the snow. Melt yourself away and leave it alone and live for God's glory.

(All Scripture in this post were from my own paraphrase.)