BBD 07.24.02 The Normal Life
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
07.24.02
The Normal Life
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall
it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and
trampled underfoot by men." - Matthew 5:13.
A "norm" is defined as "a principle of right action binding upon the members
of a group and serving to guide, control or regulate proper and acceptable
behavior." "Normal" in relation to "norm" is defined as "according to,
constituting, or not deviating from a norm, rule, or principle." Is the
"norm" of today the same as the "norm" of 50 years ago? Or even ten years
ago? What do we accept as "right action" today that would not have been
regarded as "right action" in the past? Much of what passes for
entertainment on television and in movies today would not have been
considered "normal" in the past. The "norm" of the world I think we would
agree has been in a steep decline over the last half century.
We have to wonder how much "flavor" has "the salt of the earth" lost? How
close is the salt to being "good for nothing?" Our normalcy as believers
must not be considered in relationship to the normalcy of the world. Our
normalcy as believers must be understood in relationship to our Lord and
Biblical principles.
The apostle Paul describes his personal normalcy in Philippians 3 and
beginning in verse 7 he says, "But what things were gain to me, these I have
counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the
excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain
Christ and be found in Him . that I may know Him . I press on, that I may
lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me .
forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those
things which are ahead, I press toward the goal . let us, as many as are
mature, have this mind (the mind of Christ)."
According to the normalcy of the apostle Paul nothing in this world
including money, homes, fame, lands, treasure, careers or anything else
should take priority over our focus upon Jesus. Everything that distracts
from our having the mind of Christ should be discarded and counted as being
worse than garbage.
So, is our normal the normal of the world or the normal of the Christian
life? Do we have the mind of the world or the mind of Christ? Are we the
"salt of the earth" or have we lost our "flavor"? Are we preserving the
world from a further downward slide by the way we live our lives or are we
contributing to its decline? Let us commit ourselves to having the "mind"
of Christ and living the "normal" Christian life.
Copyright © 2002. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the
devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited.
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