Fatality of Familiarity

This post was actually inspired by a post I read by pickwick12 entitled Spiritual Amnesia. As I read the awesome post and comments, I too began to realize how much I can be like the Children of Israel and how easy it is for me to read about them and see all of their faults not even realizing that we are all a lot like them today. We may not erect Gods in the form of golden calves but we do allow a lot of things to come before God. Therefore, we idolize these things. Idolatry is idolatry whether or not it is intentional. Anything or anyone we allow to come between or before our relationship with God is our idol and with this, God is not pleased. He is a jealous God and will have no one or no thing before Him.

I thought about idolatry for a while. Then I began to think about life as a mother, wife, employee, author, etc. and all the many hats I wear and how little time I have left for me. I thought about how little time I actually have to sit back and reflect on all that God has done and is doing for me. I thought about how life was before I had so many responsibilities when I was at home all day. I thought about how life was before I got so involved with the church and had more time for my family and myself. Then I began to remember a statement my pastor used to say: "only what you do for Christ will last". I quickly came to my senses and began to thank God for making me ruler over more than I had before and for trusting me with His work. (Being a mother a mother and wife is a ministry in itself but that's another topic for another day).

What I want to talk to you (briefly) about is how fatal familiarity can be. This Christian walk can get lonely at times. We know that Jesus said that He would be with us until the ends of the earth and that He will never leave us or forsake us but there are times when we don't see God moving or we don't understand why He is moving the way that He is. It is during these times when we as humans feel the need to go back to what we know. Even though our former lives were a shipwreck without Christ, we knew what to expect. And sometimes, even if just for a moment we miss that. I believe that this familiarity is what caused the Children of Israel to prefer to be slaves to Pharaoh then to allow God to lead them into the Promised Land. What are we allowing to hold up our blessings? What's keeping us from going to the next level in God?

If we were asked if we would prefer to be slaves or follow Jesus I'm sure that we would all chose the latter but would we really? When we chose to sin or to go back to what felt good, sounded good, and was "familiar" it can be fatal to our relationship with God. When we chose to go back, we chose to go back to being slaves to sin. The bible tells us in Galations 5:1 that we are to "standfast" in the liberty in which Christ has made us free and not to be entangled again with the yokes of bondage. Sin is bondage. Our lives before Christ was slavery. Satan himself was the Pharaoh.

So now, as I examine myself I invite you all to do the same. Who or what are you allowing to delay your destiny? what is the one thing about your pre-saved life that calls you back (answer this one internally)? Do you agree that there is fatality in familiarity? I want to hear from you...