Pure and Undefiled

I didn't know that just land could be so beautiful until I found myself in Murchinson Falls National Park, Uganda.


This place was beautiful. Everywhere you turned, there was something new to gaze upon. Something incredibly beautiful that I couldn't take my eyes off of. Or a new animal that just fascinated me. Or a new species of animal that I've never known about (new to me that is..).
There was something about this park that was different though, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
As we drove through the long, winding, dirt roads, the wind pulled the hair out of your face, and you couldn't help but spread your arms as wide as you could like you were flying. Because the difference about this park than american parks, was that all it was was africa. No man-made fences, or houses, no wanna-be natural habitat animals, it was pure african soil, african worn dirt roads, african animals, it was Africa. It was free of pollution from the world.
Sometimes I wish my life could mimic the sweet african plains of Uganda. To be free, unpolluted by the world.

pure/pyo͝or/

Adjective:
  1. Not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

I think that a lot of times, people only get and take away the first part of this verse. Now, don't get me wrong, taking care of the orphans and the widows in their distress is a very important part in Christianity. I love serving orphans and those that need physical and spiritual help, because that is my heart! However, James says "and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
Wow. What a hard command to follow. To keep myself, body and heart from being polluted by the world? In the world we live in today, we are constantly attacked and tempted into just GIVING IN. Is it even possible to stay pure and not polluted by the world? With media as big as it is today, the drugs, sex, and all-the-time partying are almost inescapable. But we have an escape. The Lord is our escape, and He is the only one that can give us the ability to say "no" to what we need to. The strength that it takes to say NO to the world and YES to Christ is incredibly big. And I think it's important that us lowly human beings understand that its not our strength that lets us stay pure before God. It's only Christ's strength. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. When we are all the time surrounded by sin, it gets harder and harder, but that's when our call to be pure and undefiled before God stands stronger than ever. 

Don't let yourself become so involved in the world that you forget God and His command to be 'in the world, but not of it.'

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is it really real? Week 3 in Germany

Image
     Experiencing other cultures is vitally important to your faith, in my opinion. It pulls you out of your comfort zone, (Which is totally cliché right now, but think about it. You’re literally in a zone of the world and you need to physically get out of it) and pushes you to see how other people around the world do things.       In a world that is becoming postmodern I have learned to cherish my values, to cling to the body of Christ, to abandon legalism in order to truly understand the Gospel, to be open to different doors God may be opening, to think before I speak, and to understand that Gospel credibility to other people is through my relationships with other people (how I love them).      I have seen a different, but just as able way to do church. I have recognized how real the Gospel is and how worthy it is of my entire life. I have been to some of the latest, biggest parties I’ve ever experie...
Read more

Stubborn man given NEW life in a matter of minutes.

There is power in the name of Jesus. I have never seen it like I did that day. It was our free day, with not much to do. Earlier, we had passed a big hindu temple on the side of the red hills, and then into a small village that looked untouched by the mzungus. Some of the team had mentioned how it would be really interesting to go to that village for a day, so we went! As we climbed out of the too-small-van onto the staining dirt roads, we prayed for His will to be done. Whatever it was, to let Grace fall on these people. And it did. It was like fire spreading. And it was fire spreading; we dispersed immediately in all directions, carrying the news of redemption, salvation, life with us, hoping to give it away. Nathan, Nick, Maggie, one of the interns, and I started walking down a path worn down by bare feet and skinny, deprived legs. A couple of uninterested, non-english speaking children walked up to us, said a couple words and then went on their way. By this point Nathan h...
Read more

Goodbye 'Murica, Hey Germany!

If you know me at all, you know I love to travel. What an adventure I am about to be a part of! I graduated high school in December (2014). I made that decision in September to finish early because I had enough credits and then I was hoping to travel somewhere or get an internship somewhere local/domestic in the Spring semester (2015). However, I just kinda put it off because it was so far in the future. I met with our missions pastor at Calvary to see what opportunities were available. I wanted to serve the church and not just do what I wanted to do. He mentioned missionaries that Calvary had in Lebanon, Germany, Calgary, and India. After prayer and consideration and a couple emails, we decided that Germany would be really feasible to pursue because of a missionary connection that our head pastor had with the church planter there. Because apartments and living spaces are small in Germany (especially the city, Frankfurt), housing was a bit difficult to find and because we notifie...
Read more