Wednesday, December 17, 2008

It's what you're accustomed to

This morning when we woke up it was cold, why it must have 68 degrees, with a 10 MPH gale out of the NE. Now I know most of you are realing feeling sorry for us--yet right, you think I'm crazy, but when you live year round in the mid-upper 80's day and night a wind chill of 64 degrees is cool. On the one hand I'm looking forward to being in the States next week as it will be nice to see real cold weather, but I'm also dreading it for the same reason--being cold. To most of you 68 would be warm right now, but that's because the high is probably in the 40's or 50's. Your body is accustomed to the cold, so it feels "right".

They say you can put a frog in a pot of room temperature water on the stove, then turn the burner on under it, the frog will stay in the pot until it dies. Supposedly the gradual change doesn't alarm it enough to cause it to save its life.

Is sin any different? If you begin to "dabble" in sin, just a little, it doesn't seem so bad and before long you're accustomed to it. What was uncomfortable in the beginning becomes a little uncomfortable some of the time, then eventually you don't even think about it. But like the boiling water, the wages of sin is death.

Here in Puerto Rico the fashion is for women to have some part of their breast exposed as well as their belly showing. If a young lady sees that all around here she can easily become accustomed to it--her Father can also become accustomed to it, so that both fail to realize that such dress is not modest. If where you work everyone curses and uses foul language frequently, you will become accustomed to it, unless you work on it. In a business climate where so many have no ethics, it is easy to become accustomed to it, even though it is wrong.

Do we have to go out of the world to avoid sin? No, in fact Lot is called a righteous man even though he moved his family into Sodom. But the same context that tells us he was righteous tells us he was vexed by their evil deeds. When you cease to be bothered by the sin so rampant around you, you know you've become accustomed.

Tol

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Mr. & Mrs. Faithful



We all know Abraham was a man of great faith--he is called the Father of the faithful, but I'm seeing that many people don't view his wife Sarah in the same light. Why she lied twice, saying she was his sister, when she was his wife and got the Egyptians and the people of Gerar in trouble because of her lie. Then when God promised she would have a child, first she "helped" Him out by giving Abraham Hagar to have a child with, then laughed in disbelief when told that within the year she would have a child.
So was Sarah a woman of faith, or not? Heb. 11:11 says, "By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised." Why was Sarah able to have a child? Because of Abraham's faith? No, but because of their faith--his and hers. Did she laugh in disbelief? Yes, but so had Abraham already (Gen. 17:17). If all we had was what Heb. 11:11 said of Sarah, it would be enough to prove that she had great faith--a woman 90 years old, who had NEVER been able to have children, who had finally gone through menopause with a child, would now have a child with a man 100 years old. Yet Sarah believed this and it came to pass.
"But what about her lies?" Obviously she did lie, but Abraham asked her to, "Please say you are my sister , that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you." As a submissive wife she followed the lead of her husband.
Both Sarah and Abraham sinned--in the lies, in his relationship with Hagar, and their laughing, but both of them are described as persons of great faith, even set forth as examples of faith and faithfulness. And the Bible presents them as they were, "warts" and all. The Bible never shows us sinless people, but rather shows the good and the bad.
When we examine ourselves we must acknowledge our sins and frequently we despair--how can I make it to heaven? The father of the faithful also sinned, yet is recognized for his faith. This gives us hope that we too can be seen by God as faithful.
Tol