For the Sake of the One Inside You
A few nights ago I was having trouble sleeping, so my mind wandered hither and yon to a variety of crazy thoughts. One such thought was the memory of a show I had watched several weeks ago. One of the female characters had just discovered she was going to have a baby, but she didn't want anyone to know yet. On two different occasions, she picked up a glass of wine, took a sip, then comically dribbled the wine back into the glass when she realized what she was doing.
Obviously, the woman was concerned about the effects the wine would have on her unborn child, and for that, I applaud her. But isn't it funny that she wasn't equally concerned about the effects the wine would have on her own body? From the way she grabbed the glass and sipped on the liquid, it was obvious that she had no problems drinking wine normally. But things were different now, and she had to change her entire way of thinking and living because of the one living inside of her.
All of us who are Christians have Someone living inside of us too, and that Someone should cause us to live and think differently. Things that we would normally do no longer seem appropriate. Things that used to come naturally to us now don't seem like such a good idea after all. In a sense, we've made changes for the One inside of us--changes that we wouldn't have normally made for ourselves. At least, that's how it should be.
Unfortunately, there are too many people in the world today that are walking around claiming the name of Christ, but nothing about them seems to have changed. They still hang around the same crowd and tell the same dirty jokes. They cling to unhealthy habits that are destroying the temple of the Holy Ghost. They don't go to church on any regular basis. They spend far more time talking about their favorite sport or their weekend at the lake than they do talking about things of any spiritual importance. We can't judge the heart, mind you, but on the surface, everything looks "normal." But it shouldn't!
Please understand, I'm not saying that we should all go around quoting Scripture to everyone we meet and putting on a show so that others will think we're spiritual. That's what the Pharisees did, and Jesus didn't care much for their approach. That's not what I'm saying here. All I'm saying is that things change when the Holy Spirit moves in, and if you're living the same life that you did before you got saved, you may want to check up on that. If nothing is different, then there's definitely a problem. You see, just like the pregnant woman in the show, you may not be doing things differently for you, but you should have a longing to live differently for the sake of the One inside you. If you're not, why not?
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. - Ezekiel 36:27