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| • Decisions |
Life Changes Require Life Commitments |
Have I made the commitments in the prior pages?
Whenever someone makes a commitment to run in a race, he has to sort through his commitments in life. For training occupies a lot of time, effort and costs. The race is but a day, but the training goes on and on.
The race to gain sexual purity will also cause you to reschedule your life priorities. There are things which you have 'always' done which you will no longer have time for. So have you made serious effort to shape your life to win, or are you the flippant person who agreed with a friend in a whim that you would run? If you are to win, then you must reschedule your daily schedule.
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
(Hebrews 12:1-2, NASB).
This passage gives us a number of insights into the race.
- • Firstly, we are part of a great number of people, many of which have already gone on before us. Although you might be the only one without coarse language a work, a great throng of winners are lined by the road encouraging you to go on.
- • Secondly, we are exhorted to lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us. We will discuss some of the more particular things that entangle us, but at this moment we want to bring before you a possible schedule that could help you avoid many of the problems.
- • Thirdly, we are to follow Jesus. We are not in the race alone. He fought it. We are fighting it too. He won it; He can help us along if we stay focused. This focus on Christ becomes and important part of our new schedule.
- • Fourthly, we are to remember that the winning of the race came at a cost. Although we will not need to suffer what Christ suffered, we will need to give up the pride of our life and lusts of our flesh. The greatest way to fight temptation is not from completely wiping out sensual scenes and sounds (virtually impossible) but by the surrender of our selves to God's perfect will. (Be bold to your allegiance to Christ and not to the lusts.)
12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
(Titus 2:12, NASB).
So let's see how we can reschedule our priorities so that we can make a good run for it.
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