Walking Upstream

As Christians we know that we are to be different than that of the world. For 1 John 2:15 says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." The things of this world are the sins that we commit but  we are then told are okay. The biggest one that I can think of is having sex before marriage. We are told that if we have protection, then we are safe to have sex before marriage, but the Bible could not disagree more. For you can't truly love two things at once. If you truly love the Lord, than you would not fall to the patterns of the world, but if you love the world, you can't be with the Lord. The Lord is perfect, and he can't be by things that aren't perfect. All of us will find ourselves in a place where we will have to either choose to Lord, or the world.

Now this can be a hard concept to grasp, because if we live in the world, we are going to be tempted, but if we seclude ourselves, then how are people going to see God's love. So picture a river that is flowing pretty good. Normally, we would love to go floating down it, because it is fun, and it is very easy to do. In this example though, going down stream is falling to sin. So we could sit on the shore so that we can avoid sin, but you're not really there to help people who are falling in deeper and deeper sin. The other option is to jump in the river, but you walk upstream. You are in with the people who need to be saved, but you are different in the fact that you are walking upstream. Since upstream is the opposite of downstream, the opposite of sin is God, then walking upstream is walking towards God. Will it be easy: no. If you have ever tried to walk upstream, then you can testify how difficult it is, but you aren't doing this along. When you slip on the slippery floor, just reach towards God, and he will catch you. Probably one of the most clever thing I have heard is that we all will drown at some point in our life, so drown towards God who can rescue you. When you place your trust in God, he will be there for you. It is better than you trying to save yourself, which you can't do. But when you walk upstream, you are making clear the choice that you will walk a different walk than that of the world. By doing this, you are being a light before others, like we are described to do in Matthew 5:16.

The key to being the light is to be different. You can be a good person, but being a good person doesn't save anyone, for salvation is based of faith and not acts. If people can't tell the difference between people who are floating downstream and you, then you need to reflect on who you love more, the Lord or the world. Being different will raise questions in people, giving you the opportunity to share the gospel, and leading them to salvation. It will be difficult, and it will be uncomfortable  but know that God has "overcome the world"(John 16:33).

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for sending you Son to save us. I pray that you will help each one of us reading this now to live a life that is different from that of the world. Thanks for being there when things get difficult, but help us to keep on chasing after you. Amen.