From the Pastor
"Why make such a big deal out of a small thing?" That’s often repeated when subtle differences are brought up. It may not seem like a big deal, but sometimes it’s the small things that can cause us the biggest trouble.
A mother asks her son, "Are your hands clean?" The boy gives them a quick visual inspection and announces them clean. "Go wash your hands," the mother replies, "your hands may look clean, but that doesn’t mean they are!"
Ah, yes, the old "well they look clean" response. Perhaps you remember from your history or health class that at one time doctors didn’t always wash their hands between patients. Although they "looked" clean, what went unnoticed were the germs they were passing on. A small thing? It was at the time but not any longer. Aren’t you glad that the health professionals, so long ago, made a big deal out of such a small thing? We wouldn’t even consider it a small thing now, because we know what a huge risk it posses.
So, I think it’s safe to assert that with more knowledge comes a greater understanding of the risk, which then changes the deal from small to significant. When we know what our actions, or choices could cause, then it should give us pause to seriously consider them.
Often times our attachment to the world falls into the same category. What we are comfortable with accepting from the world (contrary to Scripture) is looked upon as "no big deal". We want God to accept our involvement the same as we do. The well worn argument, "Well God wants us to be happy," is often used to bolster our attachment to the worldly things that we find pleasure in. I think that God wants us to be obedient more than He wants us to be happy. Being obedient will make us happy.
Here’s the danger; the cares of this world can rob you of your fruit bearing capabilities. (Read the first half of John 15) This happens because our attention is on worldly matters and concerns, and not on kingdom matters and concerns. We focus too much on what we want to be happy and not on what makes God happy. When we focus on our own stuff it becomes "all about me," someone offended me, someone hurt my feelings, things aren’t going well for me, I’m tired, I’m sick, I want to be alone. When its all about me, my activities are all important, my schedule, my time, my material possessions all become exalted above God. They in fact become gods and we think that if I had what I want, I’d be okay. Those lessor gods don’t let us serve the Almighty God.
So, is it a big deal to sleep in on Sundays, plan activities to replace worship? It might not seem like it, especially if you are enjoying it. But that’s the beginning of a deadly process that will leave you barren and unfruitful. Ask God to help inspect your ties to the world and break those that bring about unfruitfulness.