...And you will surely have a nightmare in the night. I did last night, and I had to laugh at this one, not from the content but from my own reading that brought it on. 'You are what you read'. Some version of that saying has intruded upon your life at some point. Of course, we know that is not entirely true. If so, all we would need for our heaven-bound ticket on the life's end express would be to read the Bible enough times to be holy. We are affected by what we take in by eating, reading, watching the lighted electronic screen, or by listening to people talk. However, we are also more than that. God created us, and we begin this life with both more and less. More sin than anyone needs to be counted as sinner, and less righteousness than we need for Heaven.
We could go through life without reading anything at all, and we would still have desires to sin from our carnal nature. We could also read every book ever printed and still lack what we need to enter Heaven. The heart must be activated by the Holy Spirit to understand the life-saving message of Jesus Christ. Even our coming to be saved at an altar, or by a streetlamp, or anywhere else in this world is preordained by God. Does that mean it is not my fault if God chooses not to save me? Let's see, God is not willing that any should perish, so it seems that everyone is going to have his chance to be saved. We should not fear for Pharaoh because he at some point in his life had the chance to worship God. We don't need to shame the sinner, because we also sinned and the Holy Spirit will take care of the conviction in the soul of the sinner. Love got through to you and me, so it should be our love that the sinner notices first.
Even in the worst of the oogie-boogie books there is the good and evil. Depending upon the author, the good wins or not. Sometimes the book presents a Christian upbringing as something to recover from, and that is sad. Other times the good is made to look like evil and vice versa, but the Word of the Lord warned us that time would come. However, Jesus did not come to condemn me for my choice of reading material. So, why then do I feel an urge to condemn others or even myself for things watched or read? Beware the yeast of the Pharisees, for they have made the transition to Christianity!
God bless you on this great day in Christ!Bucky
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