Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 29:6-7, Then Achish called David and said to him, “Surely, as the Lord lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight. For to this day I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me. Nevertheless the lords do not favor you. 7 Therefore return now, and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.”
If we are honest with ourselves, we would have to readily admit that all of us, at some point in our walk with the Lord, have tried to walk the fence having one foot in the world and one in Christianity. How did that work? I am willing to bet (if I were a betting man) that it did not work at all. David, a man chosen by God to be the next king of Israel, once stood up against, and defeated the Philistines, in defense of God’s people. Now, he finds himself trying to avoid displeasing the very people he intentionally displeased over and over again. The hard truth is that a Christian will never find peace trying to please God and the world at the same time. A true born again believer will never find peace, joy, and happiness, compromising his/her faith in order to fit in with the world. Trying to do this only ends in making us look like hypocrites. Lot, Abraham’s nephew was a good example of this. If we read about Lot’s life and choices in the Old Testament, and how he tried to fit in at Sodom and Gomorrah, it leaves us wondering if he was a true believer. However, when we read the New Testament, God says this about Lot in 2 Peter 2:6-8, “and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds).” Lot was vexed from day to day. How can we, who are followers of Jesus, in our feeble attempts to blend in with the world, not be vexed from day to day when we see the evil, the wickedness, and the debauchery of the world playing out right before our very eyes?! How can we honestly find true peace, joy, or happiness in an environment that is completely opposite of what we stand for as children of God? Sadly, if we are not careful, our hearts can grow very cold toward the things of God, and although we will put up with the world in order to fit in, we will still have that nagging feeling inside, that conviction that will still haunt us when we are alone and have to face ourselves. The Lord came to save us, give us eternal life and set us apart for His purposes. We must not be like the dog that returns to its vomit. Proverbs 26:11 reminds us, “As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 also reminds us, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” The bottom line is that a true believer, a true follower of Jesus Christ, will never find a home in the world, because this world is not our home any longer. We are pilgrims and sojourners (1 Peter 2:11) who are here for a short while, set apart to serve the Lord and tell the world about our Savior and Lord. Lest we forget, Philippians 3:20-21 tells us, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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