FOR WRITERS

FOR READERS

FOR PUBLISHERS




FREE CHRISTIAN REPRINT ARTICLES

Christian Articles for All of your Publishing Needs!

LIKE US
Translate this Page Here

FOR WRITERS

FOR READERS

FOR PUBLISHERS




Word Count: 842

Send Article To Friend Print/Use Article

Contact James Barringer


When the Power Went Out

by James Barringer  
12/16/2009 / Christian Living


With a quiet thump, the power went out.

This usually happens due to lightning (loud bang), a transformer exploding (sounds like a gunshot), or a squirrel frying itself (smells like bacon), so the quiet thump perplexed me. I later found out that my landlord somehow forgot to pay the light bill, but at the time, all I knew is that there was no power. Thankfully it was during the day and there was plenty of light, so I sat down to read, which in all honesty is probably what I would have been doing even if the power had been on.

The thing is, I kept acting like there was power, like nothing had changed. I had to leave for work in a few hours, so I caught myself glancing at the digital clock and wondering why it was blank. This didn't just happen once or twice, either; at the risk of sounding like a dolt, I probably did it a dozen times, and even after that I still felt the urge to do it and had to remind myself that the power was indeed out. It was a rather warm day, and at one point I actually got up to turn the fan on, before noticing ten minutes later that I was still warm and the fan was not on. Every time I went in the bathroom, too, I flipped the light switch.

In other words, I kept doing what I'd always done, even though it no longer matched the reality of the situation, simply because it's what I'd always done.

This explains a lot to me about why Christians have such a hard time living like the Bible says we ought to. I was 21 when I gave control of my life over to God, and by that point I had two decades worth of bad habits, worse attitudes, prejudices, poor decision-making processes, biases, and other quirks to get rid of. Those things were so deeply set into my personality that I haven't gotten rid of all of them, and I feel like if I lived to be a thousand I still wouldn't get all the way done. Old habits are hard to change, and even after we become aware that we have them, we often keep doing them - not, as I said, because it matches the reality of who we are in Christ, but simply because they're habit and it's hard to stop.

Whenever a Christian messes up, publicly and in a big way, skeptics like to point and laugh, as if this somehow proves that Christianity isn't real. I think it proves the central truth of our message, namely that sin is real and has a stranglehold on all of us. Just like I found out when the power went off, getting rid of our old deep-set habits is very hard to do. The fact that even Christians periodically make decisions inconsistent with their real identity ought to prove that nothing short of divine intervention can erase the power of those old sinful habits, and even divine intervention takes a disturbingly long time.

I think it should really sober us to think about our lives that way. If we look at how many bad decisions we make - even now, knowing better - we can see very clearly just how far gone we were without Christ. Even today, with the Spirit of God living inside us and with us trying our hardest, it still takes us an entire lifetime to get just a few inches closer to God.

This is the God who saw us back when bad habits were all we had, and loved us so much that he stepped down into space and time, solely for the opportunity to have a relationship with us. He loves us so much that he puts up with whole churches full of people who do things he said not to and refuse to do things he said to, not cutting them off from himself, not turning his back on them, but just loving them. He doesn't love us because we try our hardest (we don't) or because we please him (we can't) or because we've given him our whole hearts (we really haven't). He just loves. And his love is the most powerful force in the universe.

That's why I don't think we should hang up too much on our bad habits. We should try to present ourselves holy to God, by all means, but let's not think that his love depends on what we do. Let's not get so sidetracked by our sins that we lose sight of his love. We will carry our sins and bad habits till the day we die, but then we will lose them for eternity. Yet we will carry God's love with us till the day we die, only to enjoy even more of it in eternity. His love is the thing, in eternity and history, that is most true and most beautiful.

That's what I learned when the power went out.

Jim Barringer is a 38-year-old writer, musician, and teacher. More of his work can be found at facebook.com/jmbarringer. This work may be reprinted for any purpose so long as this bio and statement of copyright is included.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! Click here and TRUST JESUS NOW

Read more articles by James Barringer

Like reading Christian Articles? Check out some more options. Read articles in Main Site Articles, Most Read Articles or our highly acclaimed Challenge Articles. Read Great New Release Christian Books for FREE in our Free Reads for Reviews Program. Or enter a keyword for a topic in the search box to search our articles.

User Comments

Enter comments below. Due to spam, all hyperlinks posted in the comments are now immediately disabled by our system.

Please type the following word below:


Not readable? Change text.



The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

Hire a Christian Writer, Christian Writer Wanted, Christian Writer Needed, Christian Content Needed, Find a Christian Editor, Hire a Christian Editor, Christian Editor, Find a Christian Writer


Main FaithWriters Site | Acceptable Use Policy

By using this site you agree to our Acceptable Use Policy .

© FaithWriters.com. All rights reserved.