BBD 07.15.14 Living in the Past (New)
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The Burning
Bush Devotional
07.15.14
Living
in the Past
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in
which you once walked according to the course of this world…. - Ephesians
2:1-2a NKJV.
Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves
also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from
sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the
lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past
lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts,
drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard
to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood
of dissipation, speaking evil of you. - 1 Peter 4:1-4 NKJV.
A
35-year-old man in England is living in the past, as in the 1940s. Ben Sansum
is working hard to make the past become real in his life. He has bought a small
Victorian cottage (four rooms) and has decorated and furnished the house in
1940s furniture and décor including appliances. His fascination with the past
time period began when a great uncle gave him an old radio from the 1940s. Now Ben dresses as a man in the 40s would
dress, cooks as they cooked then, surrounds himself with everything he possibly
can from the past. He even has a view from his home that he says has not
changed in a thousand years. Ben says about
his way of life, “I
couldn’t live in a modern house now with modern interiors. I like this period,
I like the community spirit. I don’t want to glorify the war, I like all the
things that took people’s minds away from the war, the music and the fashions
and the cars.” However, Ben does have a girlfriend now who has her
own home. The girlfriend’s home is completely modern and Ben says they are just
in a relationship that happens to have two homes. I am wondering though, about
how much longer Ben’s girlfriend is going to allow him to live in the past?
(BBC, Huntspost 07.10.14)
There are at least three ways that believers attempt to live in
the past. Believers sometimes live in the past by acting as they did prior to
knowing Christ as their Savior. The apostle Peter is warning believers against
this type of behavior and says in 1 Peter 4:7 NKJV, “But the end of all things is at hand; therefore
be serious and watchful in your prayers.” Surely
the “end of all things” is drawing near as we
view all that is happening across the world in these days.
Another
way that believers live in the past is continual dwelling upon what has
happened in our lives. This goes beyond just thinking about the past to a focus
upon those days as being the most important without any concern for the
present. Yes, we must not forget the lessons we have learned in the past God
makes that clear throughout the Bible and Hebrews 11
is a New Testament example. The point being that as long as we are here in this
flesh upon this earth God has more for us to do. Our focus should not be upon
past deeds, but upon the present with the work and plan that God has for our
lives.
The
third way that believers are living in the past is by the dwelling upon our
sins, our failures prior to becoming children of God. Yes, we did all those bad
things, and we are sorry for them, but they are in the past. We cannot, as much
as we would like to, undo those past sins. Now we can try to restore those we
have hurt and seek forgiveness, but the sin itself cannot be undone. The great
news is that if we know Jesus as our Savior, God has washed away those sins
with the sacrificial blood of the perfect Lamb of God on the cross. God has
forgiven us and remembers those sins no more (Hebrews
8:12; Jeremiah 31:34; Micah 7:19), so forgive yourself, choose to forget
as God has, and move forward with how God would have you to serve Him now.
Copyright © 2014. Ed Wrather. The
Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998
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