Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

Although these false teachers promise such people freedom, they themselves are enslaved to immorality. For whatever a person's succumbs to, to that he is enslaved.  2 Peter 2: 19

This is a hard teaching. There are so many things in this world that are competing for our attention. Not all of them are bad. But if they are something that would capture our heart, something that would steal our devotion to our first love, Jesus, then they are, even if they look good.

There are so many teachers out there who are telling us that we can have it all. Live the way of the world and love Jesus too. Be a Christian and do whatever our neighbor is doing. But that’s not what the Bible says, and the Bible needs to be our source of ultimate truth. Right here it tells us that whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved.

I hesitate to state an example here, but the way my brain works lately I don’t process conceptually well so an example it will have to be. Let’s take wine. Wine is not inherently evil. Jesus drank wine. Jesus made wine. There’s literally nothing wrong with me having a glass of wine with dinner. Now, if I NEED to have a glass of wine with dinner that’s a red flag. If I have a glass of wine with dinner every night, another flag. If I’m having multiple glasses of wine a night, I have certainly succumbed to it. Why is that a problem? Well, apart from the damage that alcohol can do to a person and a family, it separates me from Jesus. Instead of going to Him with my problems, I have a glass of wine. Instead of spending time with Him, learning from His word, I am relaxing with the latest vintage.

The thing is, this is not just limited to substances. We can be drawn away from God by video games, pornography, relationships, you name it. Anything that becomes more important to us than Jesus, is an idol. Does that make that thing bad in itself? No. It means that your relationship to that thing is unhealthy and cannot continue. Does that hurt? Is it hard? Definitely yes. I’ve been down that road a bunch of times, having to cut things out of my life that were terribly important to me, things I had allowed to be more important than my relationship with God.

So, what if I just scale back, find a healthier relationship with that thing? That’s a slippery slope, my friend. I’m not gonna lie and say it can’t be done, but in most circumstances it’s not advisable. Take alcoholism for example. For an alcoholic, having just a glass of wine with dinner is an open door to disaster. I have had the Holy Spirit speak to my heart in this way before, advising me to not cut out something, but to scale back. Things like social media or a game on my phone. I had gotten to the point in my life where my default was just to cut a thing out entirely and I think God wanted to teach me moderation. Pray about it. Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Is this a thing that God wants you to cut out, or scale back?

Here’s the Thing: The key is you have to be willing to listen and obey, no matter what the answer is. That’s tough, but crucial.

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