OK.  Hopefully, you’ve read the previous post and done your “homework.”  If not, why not do that now and then come back to this post.  (After all, it’s not my voice you want to hear but His.)

On the left side of the line underneath “Goat”, you probably listed a bunch of things that included…

• doesn’t accept the things of the Spirit of God because it’s “foolishness”
• cannot understand spiritual things
• “sets his mind” on things of the flesh/things on earth
• does not and cannot yield to the law of God
• may “say” he knows God but if he is not obedient to God, he’s a liar
• loves the things of the world (stuff that feels good, looks good, and makes him look good)

On the right side of the line underneath “Sheep”, you probably included things like…

• examines/thinks about things of the Spirit (has the mind of Christ)
• in fact, “sets his mind” on the Spirit/eternal things
• putting to death the deeds of the body
• considers his body to be dead to immorality, impurity, etc.
• obeys God’s Word

So…the Shepherd has said some things VERY clearly.  When He talked about the broad road and the narrow road, He only described TWO possibilities.  When He talked about the separation of all the nations at Christ’s second coming, He only allowed for TWO possibilities.  And now, when He describes the kinds of life that people can live in the passages that you read yesterday, once again, only TWO possibilities.

God has clearly drawn a line between the two and He sees clearly the differences.  However, don’t we tend to want to blur the line?  Some would even say there really is no line and in the end everybody will benefit as a sheep.  But obviously, they have not heard that from Our Shepherd.  He has drawn the line and He is not inviting debate about where He has placed it.  So why does the line make some so uncomfortable?

I’d be interested in what you’re thinking, but finally here’s my thought.  The honest sheep among us look across the line to the left side of the page and in our hearts know that sometimes…too often…we could be described by some of the things on the wrong side of the line.  We tell ourselves it shouldn’t be like that, but it is.  So, what does that mean?

Well, some choose not to be concerned.  They convince themselves that since it is a common problem with everybody that it’s nothing with which to be concerned.  They may even tell themselves that God just wants them to be “happy.”  And so, in their eyes, the line that God has drawn has now been blurred.  They soothe the momentary uneasiness of their heart by thinking back to a time in their past when they performed some religious rite and convince themselves that because of that past event the line that God has clearly drawn does not really apply to them.  And so, in their eyes, the line is blurred even more.

But, truthfully, it is only “in their eyes.”  The line is still there.  God has not moved it.  It appears blurry only when we lose our focus.

In the next post, I’ll share with you the only way I know to regain a proper focus.

Listening still…