Hey Quest, it's Emma from session 6! I just finished reading 2 Peter, and the second chapter really gave me alot to think about.
2 Peter 2:20-21 says, "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them." Those verses really hit me hard because I know that in the past I have gone to Sky Ranch or on a retreat and had really awesome experiences, where I truly felt like nothing in this corrupted world mattered other than the love of our Savior Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him. But then I get back home and go back to school and I get caught up in the busy day to day and slowly begin to fade away from the Lord and back into my old ways. The verses then go on to compare this behavior to a dog returning to its vomit... which (though not the prettiest analogy) makes perfect sense. A dog throws up whatever is causing him discomfort/dissatisfaction/distress, right? Then why in the world would he want to return to it? He has experienced the torment already and knows that it was bad for him, so why would he want to go back to it? I think this is us sometimes. We have experienced the distress of a world without Christ, so once we come to know Him and see how awesome it is to purge ourselves of the weight of the world, why would we ever want to turn back? And that is something I have to ask myself sometimes too... I have experienced firsthand how wonderful life is with Christ. Knowing that He has a plan for you and that He is always there for you is so comforting! I find so much joy with Him in my life! When I have tried to go through life relying on the world instead of Him, it's terrible and extremely difficult. It is SO worth it to resist the temptations of the world and the things that you see in the media and the things your friends do, and live in Christ. Not only is the final reward greater than anything we could ever imagine, but it makes living in this corrupted world so much better.
Love you all!
Emma
wow, thank you so much for posting this. I know how easy it is to fall back into old habits even though it doesn't make any sence!!
ReplyDeleteThis was really convicting!
Thanks for the encouragement! Those verses will really help me to follow Christ more than ever when I'm faced with temptations.
ReplyDeletenice ejap. this is totally what i've gone through. why do we return back to the old ways of living that obviously cause us pain?? I think its fear of being accepted. or fear of trying to worship a God as big as ours. or just fear in general. what do you think?
ReplyDelete