Day 131: No Picking and Choosing

James 2: 10-11

You can't pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God's law and ignoring others. The same God who said, "Don't commit adultery," also said, "Don't murder." If you don't commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you're a murderer, period.

2 Peter 2:21

For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

James 4:17

“If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”

When we give our lives to Christ we give up the idea that we can pick and choose what we want to listen to or not. Serving God is not about what we agree with and what works for us. When we fully submit to God, we submit to Him and every part of His word. We do not obey the parts we like best, we obey every part even the parts that are hard to swallow, and that is how we change. We do not change doing and being the same things and people we are comfortable with. It is being uncomfortable that calls for change. We tend to lean towards the scriptures that coddle us, and yes we do need to be coddled at times, but sometimes we need scriptures that will call us out. We need something that will tell us what we are doing wrong and force us to change. However, we tend to stray away from that.

We’re okay with the bible until it goes against the lifestyle we want to lead. We seem to be okay with the scriptures until we come across a scripture that catches us by surprise. When it tells us that we are up to no good and need to change. That’s when we decide to press on the breaks, we can’t believe that God would have the audacity to call us out on our wrong doings. Well, He does because He loves us, and it is up to us to choose if we love our sinful lives more than we love God or do we love God so much that we are willing to give up the sin we find so much pleasure in. There are things in our lives that are easy to give up, but God is coming for those things that we can’t seem to let go of, the things we choose to overlook and make excuses for, God wants us to change that part of our lives. NO matter how we try to justify it, we can never justify our sin, especially when we know the word of God. When you think about it, we often try to justify the sin we do not want to give up. It’s not that we can’t give it up, that may be what it looks like on the surface but deep down it’s that we don’t want to give it up. We cannot serve God and remain in the world at the same time. It’s one or the other. We cannot choose to obey eight out of the ten commandments. If that’s the case we might as well not obey any of them. God wants all of us, not bits and pieces, He wants it all. Trust me, life is much easier when we are fully committed to God and not ducking and dodging in the shadows to hide or justify the sin we can’t seem to let go of.

We have this ‘good enough’ attitude, that we aren’t doing everything we should or could be doing but what we are doing is ‘good enough’. No, it’s not, especially when we know better, especially when we know what is right but we choose to ignore it. We are all guilty of it, including me. We cannot settle for ‘good enough’ when it comes to serving God, ironically that’s not good enough. When we know better we do better.

Reflection

1. Do you ever pick and choose what parts of the bible work for you and what parts do not? Whether in the past or present.
2. Do you have sin that is hard to give up?
3. Are you willing to give up the pleasures of sin in exchange for eternity with God?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. There is not going to be a prompt today, pray about whatever is on your heart after today’s devo, whether that leads you to repentance or what have you. Talk to god, allow Him into the depths of your heart and be honest with Him. Just have a conversation.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 132!

*Due to school being out and it being summer break the times in which the devos will be published daily have changed, instead of 6 am Pacific time it will now be 9 am Pacific. I will post other times when I figure out the exact times for everyone. Thank you*