One Foot In

"But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."  James 1:6-8

There's a crucial moment in fishing when a person has one foot in the boat and one foot still on the dock. Any poorly calculated movements during that time can result in some fairly unpleasant outcomes. I've watched people perform the splits who really aren't able to perform the splits. Yikes! I've seen others tumble into the boat to avoid the inevitable splash. Others well ... just get wet. None of these are desirable outcomes.

In our verses for the day, James speaks to this one-foot-in phenomenon as it relates to a relationship with God. To put it mildly, it's bad. He uses words like "blown", "tossed" and "unstable". Phrases like "not expect to receive" and "divided loyalty". This world is a powerful distraction to the purposes and plans of God for our lives. A cafeteria approach to life results in the spiritual splits. It's not pretty.

From the day we accepted Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit has been hard at work driving the world out of us. The end goal is a life sold out to God, a life like Jesus. It's time to jump in with BOTH feet. What part of this world still has a grip on you? Maybe a better question is, "To which part of this world are you still clinging?" Stability and blessing fills the lives of those who are all in. Is that you?

Grace and Peace,

Tom Wiles
tom@fallcreekchristian.org

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