For as long as it takes we are going to study the
gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen.
To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two postings
preceding this one.
“But now I am coming to you, and these
things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they
are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the
world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world,” (John 17:13-16).
I am thinking of the saying: ‘Birds of
the same feather flock together.’ Kind looks after kind and therefore people,
who think the same way, believe the same things and are of similar nature tend
to seek one another’s company. Jesus said on several occasions that those who
follow Him are only pilgrims or travellers through this world. We are citizens
of the Kingdom of God who happen to have residency permits to stay in this world
until our work here is completed, after which we return to our land, the
Kingdom of God.
If we live like Kingdom citizens, the
world will not like us because the lifestyle in the Kingdom is completely of
another ‘feather’ as that of the world. The world will try to make Christians
like they are and if Christians continue to refuse; the ‘birds of that kind of
feather’ will reject the ‘birds’ that do not fit in. The world would reason: What
is wrong for instance with sleeping together outside of marriage, having an
abortion when the baby is unwanted, a lie when it could be justified and so on.
When Christians then live by higher moral standards, they do not fit in and are
hated.
It is interesting that Jesus asked His
Father in our passage above that He should not take the disciples out of the
world, but to keep them from the evil one. Being different from the world is an
honour to a Christian and if we could maintain it we bring glory to Father God.
That is exactly what the devil tries to prevent. The hatred we receive from the
world puts pressure on us to compromise with them, since if we are more like
them we will not feel so lonely and rejected and it will release the constant
pressure we live under. Satan therefore feeds that natural desire of the sinful
nature for acceptance, and tempts us to become like the world, in other words
to sin. It is not the hatred of the world that would harm us, but the pressure
to become like them and Satan is very active in His subtle attempts to get us
there, which is why Jesus prayed that Father God must protect us from Him. If
we keep our faith in Jesus and our eyes on things above and not on earthly
things as the Word commands, and if Jesus is our first love, we will have a
fortress of love to flee to every time the hatred of the world becomes too much
for us. But the temptation to sin and compromise is silent and subtle and we do
not always see it coming, which is why we need Father God’s protection.
We just need to always be aware of the
fact that it is not wrong to be odd, to be different and to be unacceptable to
the world. We are accepted by the beloved and that is sufficient. The godlier
we live, the more we will be rejected and persecuted. We must therefore find
our acceptance by faith in the love of the Lord and in the love of his people,
our family in Christ.
Lord, please help me to look to you
for acceptance.
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth,
via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will
accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you
think others may benefit by it.
No comments:
Post a Comment