March 21

“When Pharaoh found that he could not induce Moses to remain in the land, he gave up that point, but he added cunningly, ‘You must not go very far.’ (Exodus 8:28)”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 3/21

Hannah says Satan tries to persuade us to “dwell in the border land” in the same way by convincing us that the church and the world need not be separated by any great distance.  Our sin separates us from God, but Christ has taken care of that separation.  We are one with God through Christ. But we are guilty of dwelling in the borderland when we maintain our ties to our old identity because it is here that Satan can attack us. This may involve the prejudices we’ve grown up with, but also it may involve the accoutrements of our lifestyles if we are weak and are easily caused to stumble.  This is why the church must be so careful and is told to consider the weaker brother.

 

Ultimately it is a matter of the heart. Who are you trusting?  Is it God who now resides in you or is it the things of the world? Who do you love more?  Is it yourself and thereby the things the world offers?  Or is it Christ?  Once this question is settled separation from the world will be complete.

“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than than these?”....And after this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’”  John 21:15, 19b