Near the Edge!

In 2007 Bev and I drove up Pikes Peak, a 14K mountain just outside of Colorado Springs, CO.  At the bottom of the mountain the road is paved and lined with guardrails. About half way up the road becomes a gravel one, a leveled slice of dirt hugging the rocky slope! On one side the treeless rock slopes steeply upward. On the other only thin air; no trees, nothing between the car and disaster. Since I was the driver, Bev’s side of the car was on the outside, nearest the edge. She constantly urged me to move toward the center, but cars descending the mountain forced me closer to the edge; causing her to cling tightly to my arm.

Many Christians choose to live their spiritual life on the edge, and not in a good way. They walk as far from Christ as they feel they can without slipping away from Him completely. Rather than pursue close relationships with other Believers, using time and/or money in a way that reflects a deep devotion to God and His kingdom, they live a life of minimal commitment. To all appearances, their aim is to find some middle ground between discipleship and self-worship where they can feel secure in God’s grace, but enjoy life on their own terms. Why abuse the grace of Christ, ignoring the Spirit’s call to a life of reverence and holy devotion?

My favorite New Testament letter is the one that Paul sent to the Ephesian church. It is filled with assurances about God’s plans and love for us, about the abundance of His grace to cover our sin, about the power of the Spirit to raise us to new life. Those whose trust Christ to make them right with the Father, who live in His grace, are secure; not because they are ‘good enough’ but because His salvation is complete. I am so very thankful for that assurance.

But right alongside of those passages that focus on His lavish love; there is a call to leave the edge and move to the embrace of Christ. It comes in practical terms. Read the following slowly, prayerfully, your Abba telling you of His desire for your life:  "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us … among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.”  

Then, there is this warning!  “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. … you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:1-14, NIV)

Let’s not confuse deep devotion with shallow religiosity. In the same way that a coat of paint on a rotten piece of wood does not make it sound, a thin veneer of pious acts does not make a holy Christian. True holiness comes from a love for Christ that goes to the core of our identity.

Are you trying to live near the edge, looking for a way to be part of the party while hanging onto your relationship with Christ Jesus? That’s a choice that only leads to misery. Here’s a word from the Word that will guide you from the edge. "Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity." (1 John 2:15-17, The Message)