Contrast
There is a marked difference when comparing apples and oranges. They are two different types of fruit. Their color, texture and taste are quite different. If compare one type of red apple to another red apple, the differences are still there just not nearly as different.
When a Christ-follower is compared to a non-Christ follower, the differences are obvious. As a Christ-follower, the things I value are often quite different from others who don’t follow the Lord. Among Christ followers, there is still quite a contrast sometimes. Some are followers with their lips and others with their lives as well as their lips.
David writes a Psalm that contrasts a person who follows the Lord and one who was working against the Lord. Check this out….
5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: he will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. 6 The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at you, saying, 7 ‘Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!’ 8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. 9 For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good. (Psalm 52:5-9 NIV)
For me the bottom line is trusting in the Lord – period. I’m still working at this daily. When money is tight, I will trust the Lord.
When people say things about me that aren’t true, I will trust the Lord.
When faced with a decision that I don’t know what to choose – I will trust the Lord.
When people lie to me and hurt me with their words – I will trust the Lord.
I want to live my life led by the Spirit of God which is often in direct contract with how I normally think.
Pressing On! Dwayne