Thought for Wednesday, 10 May 2023

 Ephesians 4:17-19

With the Lord’s authority let me say this: Live no longer

as the ungodly do, for they are hopelessly confused.  Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against him.  They don’t care any more about right or wrong, and they have given themselves over to immoral ways.  Their lives are filled with all kinds of impurity and greed.

Being a Christian and trying to live as a Christian in today’s society has and is becoming increasingly difficult with every year that passes.  The number of people around us that know and love the Lord is becoming less and less.  The ungodliness in the world today is reflected in some of the decisions made by governments in countries all over the world and we can all recognise things that are acceptable in the world today that would have been considered unacceptable in years past.  The less Christian influence there is on society, the lower the moral standards become.  This means that as Christians in the world today, we must be careful to hold on to the behaviours that the Lord would expect from us and resist conforming to the next generally accepted practice in society that just doesn’t feel right and doesn’t fit in with our Christian teaching. 

I’m guessing that most of you reading this today will have been given Christian teaching at School, at Sunday School, at whatever youth organisation you attended as well as Church services.  I believe that all the biblical things we hear throughout our lives are stored somewhere within our hearts and minds and I believe they help fuel our conscience and that they resurface as and when required and when the situation demands.  We then face the decision of whether to follow our conscience or ignore it and hope it will just go away. 

A Christian is required to think and act differently in many instances from what is expected as the norm in society and this in itself, can be challenging as it’s not always an easy choice. 

At the coronation last weekend, it was heartening to hear the Christian content within the formality of it all but when you see some of the guests in attendance and their record in the various offices they have held, it is apparent that hearing the word and putting it into practice have escaped a fair number.  We can only pray that their hearts will soften and the minds will turn from the darkness to the light and over time, the trend away from Christianity will reverse if it is the Lord’s will. 

Prayer – Heavenly Father, thank You that by believing in Christ, we have become a new creation and that our new life has been created in Your likeness. Lord, we know that we have been created in righteousness and holiness, and pray that You would help us to walk in the light, in spirit and in truth. Help us put off all our former ways of life which would prevent the working of Your Spirit within us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.