“If you love learning, you love the discipline that goes with it—how shortsighted to refuse correction!” (Proverbs 12:1 MSG)
A couple of years ago my family bought me a new PC for my birthday. After getting it all set up, I continued using my old one until late last week. All of a sudden it would not let me access Google Chrome. Bottom line, it had seen its days. I started using the new computer with both a sense of hesitation and excitement. I was hesitant that about feeling everything would be alright; fearful that I would lose information. But I quickly realized I have been saving just about everything on the same flash drive for four years. That amounts to four years of daily meditations, weekly sermons, Sunday School lessons, and Bible Study lessons, so you can see why I would be concerned. I was excited because the new computer has a lot of features that I did not have on my old PC. One of the features is the “Editor” function, a step up from my “Spell Check” feature I had been using. However, maybe you have noticed that I am not using such words as “didn’t,” “don’t,” and “won’t” as much. That’s or I better say, “that is” because the editor corrects me pointing to “Formalities,” suggesting the proper way to write those words is “did not,” “do not,” and “will not.”
To be honest, I did not like the “Formalities” corrections. I did not want to change and to be honest I had an attitude about it. You can understand my frustration with the “Formalities” can’t you? I didn’t, excuse me, I did not see anything wrong with what I have been doing for years. Yet, to keep from fighting with the “Editor” feature, I try my best to comply with the suggested changes.
Okay, are you ready for the lesson? Here it comes! Many times when it comes to making changes in our lives, it is God, the Chief Editor, who corrects our conduct, cleans out corrupt thinking, corrects our crooked walking, cancels our consistent misbehavior, and closes our culture influenced mouths when profanity, now deemed acceptable by many, is about to come while speaking. How does the Chief Editor do all this for us? He does it by His word, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, and of course by bringing to mind our awareness of what would Jesus do. He corrects us, changes us for the better, and believe me He has the authority to do it! His ways represent the “Formalities” involved in living like children of God ought to live. Yet, just as I was resisted to change to using a better personal computer, many of us resist doing things God’s way. Our resistance may be regarded as minor, but we need to stop fighting with the Chief Editor. And listen, we do not comply with His formalities to just be transformed into better human beings, but so that those who have conformed to the ways of the world might see in us a better way; see that it is no longer us who lives, but the Christ who lives in us.
So if you have an area of your life, where “Formalities” found in God’s word are not being followed, cease from warring against the Creator of the world and make the change, whether it is minor or major. He really does make all things new and His “new” produces improvement from the old. Be blessed!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King