Christ Stands at the Door and so Does Sin

Be forewarned that this post is one of my ramblings, so I will try to stay on point with my thoughts today. 🙂 I’ve been thinking a lot lately about passages like those in Isaiah that mention the Day of the Lord and how this day will be “upon everyone that is proud and lofty and upon everyone that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low” so that “the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.” I recommend looking up Isaiah 2-4 and reading for yourself to get a good feel of where I’m coming from and to gain some understanding about what it means to be proud and lofty.

I know a lot of Christians think that reading OT prophets is a waste of time, and many don’t bother with the OT much at all. I understand that Jesus fulfills all of the OT, but much has not yet happened because Christ has not returned. Therefore, prophesies that speak of the Day of the Lord are important in my belief and should be compared to Revelation.

Anyhow, that aside. What are the things which are “proud and lofty?” It is in the nature of man to be very proud.  I wrote the other day about how it is my belief that as part of the plan of the Lord to overthrow all things “proud and lofty,” he will do things a little differently than people expect — differently than the proud expect who think they know it all already.

I believe this is true. Yet, if we are not careful, we can err on the side of being too against tradition and even become puffed up in our humility, if that makes sense.

I love the contradictory things the Lord spoke of. Let your light shine but don’t sound a trumpet before you. Do not be a reed shaken in the wind but do not be an old wine skin. I find that the balance between the extremes in most cases is the correct course. Do not look to man but do not despise men of God. Do not over glorify the Bible but have respect for the written word. Do not become too constrained by tradition yet do not despise the solid foundation of sound doctrine. Be meek and be bold. Preach the gospel and do not cast your pearls before swine.

There is liberty in Christ in the Spirit to interpret each and every scenario in life so that we can aim for the mark of perfect righteousness and all truth — yet — sin lies at the door.

The temperate course rooted in the wisdom of God is what I aim for — and for me, this is found by me going back and forth between extremes and searching for the right way. On either side of the right way there is sin. It is so easy to go too far to the left or the right, but thankfully Jesus stands at the door too and if we listen to his voice, we will get better at staying on course and hitting that mark which conforms us to the image of Christ.

As for things that are “proud and lofty,” sin truly lies at the door. Pride is bound up tight in the hearts of man, and I am no different. It is easy for thoughts to wonder into vanity, either esteeming ourselves too highly or even too lowly. It is easy to wonder into being covetousness of the things of this world which are usually the things of material gain — and in essence — the things of pride.

Maintaining a humble existence is good, and the Lord is good in keeping us humble. When we keep our focus on Jesus, we cannot help but be humbled. There is no pride in the presence of the Almighty King. I want to be in His presence, and I look forward to the day when the Lord alone is exalted and Man knows his rightful place.