Good Tuesday morning! We have a freezing rain warning for this morning. This is something to take seriously! Check the sidewalks and streets before taking off this morning. If you step out your door, fall on your bumpkus, and slide down to the bottom of your driveway, that might be an indication that the streets are too slick to drive on. I have one of those free-roaming anxieties about sliding into my neighbor's expensive camper. Usually, I figure that's just one of the devil's tricks to try to keep me from going out, but on a day like today, that fear is something to pay attention to. :-)
Fear. If the devil's greatest weapon is the lie; fear must be one of his powerful allies. Fear can keep us from thinking straight or from doing activities we enjoy. Fear can make us afraid to stay put and afraid to go out. We can become stuck in a mire of the fear of doing or not doing. The devil would love to see all Christians paralyzed by fear. There is much to be afraid of in this world; some of it good and some bad. We should fear sticking our hand in a whirling steel fan blade. We shouldn't fear spreading the good news. We should fear jumping in front of trucks on the interstate highway. We shouldn't fear the love of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
The first examples are healthy fears. We get one body in this life and God gives us a desire to preserve it. The imaginary things that we fear is a different story. Of the many messages that God has for us, one seems to stand out for its simplicity and its imperative. God sends an angel to Zacharias - "Don't be afraid..." (Luke 1:13); God sends an angel to Mary - "Don't be afraid..."(Luke 1:30); The shepherds are visited by an angel while watching their flocks - "Don't be afraid..."(Luke 2:10); Jesus calls Simon to him - "Don't be afraid..."(Luke 5:10); Jesus comes walking across the water to the disciples - "It is I; do not be afraid." (John 6:20) The Lord, it would seem, must remind us to not be afraid and that we shouldn't be afraid. Even when traveling with Jesus for months the disciples had to be reminded to not be afraid. Why are we still so afraid?
Might as well ask: Why do we still covet, lust, steal, lie, cheat, and commit all the other forms of sin? Fear is a part of that sin nature or lust of the flesh that we all have. If you dwell on lustful thoughts, you will have trouble with sexual sin. If you dwell on fearful thoughts, you will be afraid. Jesus calls us to think on Him: to believe and have faith in Him.
This is taking a long time to write this morning. I'm afraid someone will stand up and yell, "Hypocrite! You're afraid all the time!" Yes, I fight fear just the same as most everyone else. The wrong thing I do is try to fight it alone. When we fear, our first thoughts must turn to Jesus. His final words in Matthew about fear were the solution to the problem: "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Jesus is with us and within us always; and His message is still the same, "Don't be afraid!"
Have a great day with Jesus!
Bucky
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