Miles to Go

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:11-16 ESV). I am far enough removed from moving out of our house into the apartment that most of the newness has become common. I have gotten used to the new placement of light switches and patterns of things in the cabinets and such. Even the sore muscles from the actual moving have subsided. At the time we were moving I thought I’d never finish; it seemed we had miles to go every time I surveyed what had yet to be done. Strangely, one step at a time worked! Life is like that. The consistent life of persistent faith just gets you there. The key is taking care not to compromise. If you find a person who has fallen into gross sin, you are likely to find in every situation that you can think of, it began with compromise. Very rarely do people fall away from God overnight. Sometimes it appears they do, but in reality, it doesn't happen that way. For instance, you may have seen someone at church last week, only to discover the next week they have gotten into some immoral lifestyle or are doing something they shouldn't be doing. You think, “I don't get it. I just saw them in church last week. They were doing fine.” I would suggest that compromise has been taking place over a long period of time in that person's life, and he or she finally just caved in. It is like a massive tree that may have stood for 400 years, only to come crashing to the ground one day. No one could understand why a tree of that size would crash to the ground. After all, it had weathered countless storms and had never fallen. But one day, without warning, it just crashed. If you were able to examine the tree, you might find it had been slowly killed by beetles. Little insects might have, over a prolonged period of time, chewed their way through its mighty fibers until it came crashing down. That is how compromise works. The devil may be wicked, but he is not an idiot. He knows how to deceive us quietly and subtly. He doesn't tell you what he is up to in the beginning. Instead, he comes to you with a little enticement. He sounds so convincing and truthful. It all makes such good sense when you think about it. After all, what could be bad about “that”? Like boiling a frog slowly, you are gone before you know the water was even hot. Don’t settle for anything less that the truth of God working in your life. Take your time with the study of the Scripture. Let it permeate your life in a way that you will be protected from the devil’s deceit. We do have miles to go, walk them one step at a time.