I want to share a quote from the book, The Legacy of Biblical Womanhood, by Susan Hunt and Barbara Thompson. Speaking about a granddaughter making her "profession of faith"...
"It is the event that should determine every other decision that child will make--from how she will spend the Sabbath to how she spends her money, from her choice of clothes to her choice of a husband. This milestone calls for a pull-out-all the stops celebration..." (pg 16)
That leads me back to the last blog...and where my thoughts have been...and trying to put it in words. Freedom in Christ - but yet a slave to Him. I heard someone say that to be discreet (which is in the list of things that the older women need to be teaching the younger women) means to voluntarily place limits on my freedom. I am not free to go anywhere. I am not free to do anything. I am not free to say anything. I am not free to wear anything. I am bought with a price...I need to live as such.
So, back to the quote from the book. Our salvation is the event that SHOULD determine EVERY decision that we make. How we spend the Sabbath. Do you remember when churches gave awards to people with perfect attendance? (showing my age huh?) But how sad, that is not important to Christians anymore. I remember one year awards...two years...three years... How long has it been since you had perfect attendance? So....How do I spend my Sabbath? Whatever is convenient for the day...hummmmm. Does our salvation determine how we spend the Sabbath? Or has society? You have to determine that.
Our Salvation is the event that SHOULD determine EVERY decision that we make...How we spend our money....ohhhhh, do I even need to go there - especially in the summer- ???? Is the tithe first...or the leftover (after vacations)? Is giving to someone in need even a part of our budget? Are we so in debt for "stuff" that we could not give if we wanted too? And then there is the building fund.... we want the buildings, we want the staff, we want the air conditioning, we want the furnishings, we want the programs....oh, but let someone else pay for it, huh? Am I getting myself in trouble?
Well, that is the first two from the quote. I think I will stop today...and see if anyone responds...what are your thoughts? Freedom in Christ. Discreet. Voluntarily placing limits on my freedom. Salvation - it SHOULD determine EVERY decision that I make.
Next I will address our clothes and our marriage....
Blessings to you all,
DeeDee
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8 years ago
5 comments:
Ouch! I'll need a moment to recover from my toes being stepped on. :) But, in all seriousness, this is the kind of honest talk and confrontation of the issues that our churches seem to lack today. We all need to be reminded from time to time where our priorities should lie. We have been bought with a price, and anything we could "give up" in order to lead discreet lives certainly pales in comparison to the sacrifice which purchased our freedom--the blood of Christ.
Now back to my toes...guess I'm thinking that maybe we should have made other arrangements for seeing a Brave's game instead of missing church in a couple of weeks to do it. The tickets are already purchased for this one, but perhaps the bruises on my toes will still be there next year to remind me to plan differently....
Looking forward to Part II of this discussion on being "discreet."
That is so true, and something I really needed to hear. We are having a VERY hard time finding a home church, which makes it easy to avoid the subject on Sunday rather than visit yet another church we don't belong to. It also makes it easy to hang onto that tithe money since we don't have a home church to give it to. Thank you for telling the truth on a couple of unpopular topics!!
Amen and Amen! I think we are guilty of taking liberties with the knowledge that the Sabbath was made for man and not man made for the Sabbath. We think of it as a day of rest "self relaxation" instead of resting in the Lord and being renewed with the worship of our Almighty God. Hmmmm Sounds a bit like Babylon. May God help us be faithful.
Vicki
Hey DeeDee!
Jessica gave me your blog address. We had a preacher from Nigeria named Sunday Adalaia, who has been a missionary in the Ukrane for the last 20 something years, speak at our church a few weeks ago. He is really appalled at how so many in our wonderful country use the word freedom as a license to do anything or act any way they feel like at the time. He said true freedom, freedom in Christ, means the freedom to do the right thing. That is pretty deep when you get to thinking about it. We do still have the freedom to do the right thing in our country but if we don't protect and guard it, I don't know how much longer we will have it. Even now, in the media, you can say anything about anyone as long as it is not a Christian saying anything about Jesus, or absolutes of right and wrong, or coming judgement if we don't repent. I am reading a book called "Get in the Ark" by Steven Farrar right now. He tells of being in a hotel room across the street from a civic center where he was to preach the next day and hearing a loud cracking sound. He looked out the window and saw the whole building begin to collapse under the weight of the snow that had been accumulating on the roof for many days. He said he felt God saying to him that this is like the USA. The weight of the sin that our country so eagerly embraces will soon cause it to collapse if something doesn't change. All it takes for evil to abound is for good men to do nothing. Pray with me II Chr. 7:14. We can make a difference, one humbled, repentant, praying Christian at a time!
so glad to hear from all of you... Thank you for reading and responding.
Jessica R - the bruises will heal ... but maybe the memory will not :)
Jessica K - I will be praying with you about where God wants you to go. And by the way - I love your blog! :)
Vicki - You are right--- it is like Babylon. I can hardly wait for our next study :)
Barbara - So glad to hear from you. I am praying with you....thanks for visiting with me here.
Blessings to you girls ! :)
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