Sunday, April 29, 2012

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER OR CARACTITURE


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Matthew 5:13-16 
                                                                                                            You You are the salt of the earth.

But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor?

Can you make it useful again?

It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

You are the light of the world - like a city on a mountain,

glowing in the night for all to see.

Don’t hide your light under a basket!

Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all.

In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see,

 so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

 If you had the opportunity to sit down and talk with that old shipbuilder Noah, you would soon learn that this was a humble man, a God fearing man...one who was governed by the heavenly Father above him, not by the society around him.

GENESIS 6:5 describes vividly the conditions of that society; "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time."

But not Noah. 

He just wasn't about to join the crowd.  It was that simple.  So as God

directed, he built an ark; a kind of water-borne sanctuary that was a floating symbol of Godly obedience.  

His attitude?  "You want it God, I do it"

That kind of attitude wasn't easy to find then...it isn't easy to find now.

          And then not that much further on in the Bible there is another one-of-a-kind individual named Enoch, and when you read his name you don't get a of lot details about his life,  Fact is, his is just one more name in a long genealogical list except for one very important difference, after his name appears four very important words... HE WALKED WITH GOD.

But that is all you have to read because from there on you know the man.

          There was a homeless man, ragged in his clothes and his manner. And as he drunkenly asked for money to buy a cup of coffee, which obviously was the last thing he was going to use the money for, he stumbled and fell.  Bleeding now from his forehead, he looked up at the young man he had begged from and said, "I wish you could see the man that I am supposed to be."

Are you the youth or middle aged or older person you are supposed to be?"

          How will you be described in your family's genealogy?  In four simple words like Enoch?  "He / she walked with God."  Or would the explanation, the description, of you require a few more words, such as "He / she, knew it was wrong but did it anyway."

Does your daily thought process go something like this - "It's okay...I can live anyway I want...God will forgive me." 

It is so easy to follow the path of least resistance; to magnetize yourself and be pulled along by the throng.  The challenge is to do right when at the moment you really want to do wrong.

It is not that we do not know we are constantly shaping our future by the choices we make, it is just that we cannot always agree with ourselves about what or how we want to be shaped. 

So, are you shaping yourself toward being humble before the will of God, or without a backbone, fitting the shape of the crowd or place where at any particular moment you stand?

Are you being shaped by arrogance while spiritual amnesia wipes out the contents of your conscience?

One writer put it this way: “If we could see ourselves as God sees us, we would rise up and never be the same again.”

          When Pablo Casals was 90, and considered the greatest cellist of all time, he still continued to practice 4 to 5 hours each day.  When asked, "Why?" he responded, "I have a feeling that I am making a little progress."

And that is all of us...a little progress here...or a little digression there.  Just remember when you look back at what kind of Christian character you have been practicing, if you have been wasting Christian opportunities, it is never too late to make a even a little progress.

One thing is for sure, we never stay the same, we sink slowly or we rise slowly, but we never stay the same.

          Ruben Gonzales was in his first professional racket-ball tournament - an unknown playing the world champion.  It was the fourth and final game and it was match point.

Gonzales made a killer shot into the front wall to win the game.  The referee called the shot good.  The line judge confirmed that the shot was in.  But after a moment's hesitation, he walked over to his opponent and shook his hand, declaring that his shot had hit the floor first.

As a result, he lost the match. The crowd was stunned as he walked off the court.

Everything had been officially in his favor.  He had the victory.  But he chose to disqualify himself because he knew the truth.

When asked why he did it, he replied, "It was the only thing I could do to maintain my integrity. There will always be another match to win, but I could never regain my lost integrity."


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