A long time ago, my husband got a job in sporting goods sales. It was his dream job. Or so we thought before he started. He loved sporting goods and guns and hunting supplies. Wasn’t this the perfect fit for him? Turns out? No. The job took him out of town a lot. Something we both hated. And he had to hang out with other sales reps on these trips. These men wanted to go to bars and strip clubs. He did not fit in with them at all. He was miserable. The dream job turned into a nightmare. But rather than conform, he quit, and we stepped out in faith that the Lord would provide as he started his own business.
I wish I could say that every time in my life when I’ve been put in a situation where I was asked to conform to something that goes against my values, I walked away, but the truth is I didn’t. It’s really hard to do. We can’t do it alone. We need the Holy Spirit to keep our hearts stirred up. And you know what else we need? We need a wall. A wall around our hearts that keeps us from conforming, letting the devil get a foothold. A wall that doesn’t have a foundation based on our own work, but the work of Jesus on the cross. That’s a foundation that won’t crumple.
On the cross, Jesus was mocked and ridiculed. They said: “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:40, NIV).
But he didn’t come down. He knew the work he was doing was the greatest work of all time—saving us, saving all who put their trust in him.
So, we have to build a wall. A wall around our Bible study time. A wall around our prayer time. A wall around our relationships with others who love the Lord. And we have to build it on our rock, not on our own strength. Because we will bend. Sometimes we will break. But he never will.
With Love in Christ,
Stephanie