April 27, 2007

 

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

--Hebrews 11:24-25

It breaks my heart when I see young people who were raised in the Church decide to search for something else. It’s always sad when they think they have missed something by being in a home with conservative Christian convictions and values.

 

The truth is they find out they haven’t missed anything—except a lot of heartache and trouble.

 

The Bible forthrightly acknowledges that there may be a “fleeting” pleasure to sin. But that’s the problem—the fun wears off very quickly, and all that’s left is the pain and regret of sinful choices.

 

But because sin does seem to offer pleasure, it takes strong convictions and rock-solid values to live for Christ. Moses had those convictions, so he chose to follow the Lord even though, as the son of Pharaoh, he could have had all the pleasures that the world had to offer.

 

But notice that Moses’ decision to live for God involved a willingness to be mistreated. There’s a lesson here for us: there is no shortcut or quick fix when it comes to living a Christ-like life.

 

Holding to your convictions is not always the easy choice, even though it is always the right choice.

 

When you try to hold on to the world and to Christ at the same time, you’ll get the worst of both worlds and the best of none. Being true to Christ is a decision you have to make every day. My prayer is that it will be the decision you make!

 

 

LIVING FOR CHRIST IS NOT ALWAYS THE EASY CHOICE, BUT IT IS ALWAYS THE RIGHT CHOICE.