This side of the Fence

I've realized something. It's not really all that new to me, but it made an impact on me none the less. For far too long, I was straddling the fence. What fence you ask? Well, let's just say that on one side of the fence is the person that I should be, and the other side is who I'm striving not to be!

That fence got pretty comfortable for awhile. I couldn't make up my mind what I wanted. I was pulled in one direction, knowing that what was best for me was on that side. On the other hand, or side in this case, was what seemed like the easiest way to live. Who wants a life filled with struggle? Who wants a life where all the right decisions you make cause you to be persecuted all the more? Who wants people to look at them like they're an absolute fruitcake because they do things completely opposite of everyone else? Well for awhile, I wasn't sure that's what I wanted, so instead of making a decision one way or the other, I just sat there. Like a bump on a log (oops, I mean fence).

But wouldn't you know it, that fence wasn't fun to sit on for a long period of time. With every day that went by, I could feel that I needed to make a decision one way or the other! So now I had to decide who I was going to listen to. The world tells me to live for myself and not care about how my decisions affect me and other people. Just do what feels "right". God tells me to live a life that is contrary to my human nature. He calls me to love others even if they hurt me. He calls me to give up what is considered treasaure in this life to gain treasure in Heaven. He asks me to take up my cross and follow Jesus, denying all of my self-centered desires.

1 John 2:15-17 says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the eyes and the boasting of what he has and does- comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." Did you catch that last statement? It sure caught my attention!

Some day " the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." ( 1 Thessalonians 4:17&18)

My decision really wasn't so difficult after all. Yes, it's true that I may have to endure through things that are painful for me, but so does everyone else. It's how I deal with those things that matters in the end. Or should I say that it's deciding to follow God's leading instead of giving in to my human nature. When Jesus comes back, I know what side of the fence that I want to be on!!! Do you?

Lord, I can't possibly live every day the way that You have called me to without Your help! I need You! I ask for Your strength, Your wisdom, and Your love to share with others. Help me not to live asking what is best for me in this life, but desiring to live my life knowing that the true reward is in Heaven. AMEN!!!!