“My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.” Psalm 62:7
It is amazing what a pair of glasses can do. After arriving here in the Middle East where the sun is so bright, new sunglasses were in order, and I found a pair that were, in my opinion, well, cool. This was confirmed when someone asked me if my sons had picked them out for me! I felt good in them, handsome, with it.
Now there’s a subtle difference between feeling good in something and drawing your worth/importance/status from them. Unfortunately I crossed that line and actually began to use those sunglasses as a barrier between myself and others, acting distant and, well, cool. No one knew this but God and me, but that was enough.
The Spirit quickly convicted me of my “standing in the way of sinners” (Ps.1:1,2), so I could repent and look to the Lord instead for my status. That desire for worth/importance is a strong one in all of us, and my old nature is good at pulling me in the direction of wanting worth from the wrong source. My attitude had to change.
I still wear the glasses, but they are now only a source of good things for me: shade for my eyes, and a reminder of my dependence on God.
This whole experience was an effective encouragement to think according to the Word, which means thinking out of the “world’s box.” We need to recognize and reject ungodly advice, especially when it comes from our own heart.
This brings to mind the results of a survey done of believers in America which was summed up with a statement something like this: “Never have so many, who claimed to be born again, had so little effect on the society in which they live.” Failure to recognize unhealthy conformity to our society results in our lives being tasteless and fruitless for those around us.
In contrast, when we think God’s Word and live it, we become salt, bring refreshment and make others thirsty for Truth. We need to live according to a different standard and do that for the right reasons.
Prayer: “Lord, show me where I am drawing my worth and importance from the wrong sources. Help me to repent and draw significance and security only from you, remembering “My salvation and my honor depend on God” so that you may be more powerfully glorified through my life. Amen.”
