12/15/2008
Psalms 26:4 - 7 (HCSB)
4 I
do not sit with the worthless
or associate with hypocrites.
5 I hate a crowd of
evildoers,
and I do not sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in
innocence
and go around Your altar, LORD,
7 raising my voice
in thanksgiving
and telling about Your wonderful works.
===
Some people think that when you become a Christian, you can’t do fun things anymore; that you have to quit doing all the things you used to do with your friends. But there’s a problem in this thinking. Religion is about dos and don’ts while Christianity is about Jesus. Religion is more concerned with rules and regulations, whereas, Christianity is about our relationship with Jesus.
When asked what one must do to be saved (become a Christian), Jesus’ simple reply was to love God and love others. Jesus never spelled out a long list of what one must or must not do. So where does the idea come from that we must somehow give up fun when we become a Christian?
I think for one thing, when we focus on Jesus and we are inhabited with the Holy Spirit, He changes our desires. What we once considered “fun” now seems like foolishness or a waste of time. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, our idea of fun and what brings lasting pleasure is refined to different things. Those who do not know the Holy Spirit look on and think that we are responding to a list of rules, when in actuality, the changes are our own.
David, in the verses above, proclaims his new behavior not out of obligation to a set of standards, but because he is focusing on what brings lasting peace. When we have that intimate relationship with God, we find pleasure in talking about what God has done.
This does not mean that we spend every waking hour singing and praising, but it does mean that we have a totally different perspective about what brings enjoyment than what the world thinks.
While we must interact with people in the world every day, and it is also important for us to mingle with them so that we can share the truth, we should remember that our joy – our fun comes from new things that those in the world just don’t understand. For this reason, I would recommend that you share your leisure time with fellow believers who understand what true happiness means.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2008 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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