Rededicate. Resist. Rise.

More than us singing and listening to sermons at church, our living aligned with God's word is important, said our pastor. And in the middle of the service, we saw ourselves going into a kneel-down position to rededicate our lives to live according to God's standard. It left a profound impact on everyone who came to church that day.

We are living in times where we are told that rising and falling is totally fine and that it is a normalcy in Christian life. Of course, we are humans who are prone to make mistakes. But does that understanding make us fall again and again? Do we have a standard for ourselves up to which we want to live? Or do we easily leave our spiritual standards when things get tough? Is stress our reason to fall into every ugly pit that we come across? Are we becoming comfortable with this rising and falling culture—being one with the pig for some time, then being one with the Holy Spirit?

In Amos chapter 5, we can see how God feels about us when we lower and upgrade our standards often. Verse 21 goes like this:

“The Lord says, I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.”

Here in the above verse, God expects us to have righteousness that never dries up in us. Being righteous is the opposite of being sinful. Regret is important to change, but that alone cannot bring a change of heart. Only God's word can change us. To have righteousness that cannot dry up, we need a heart that is not drained of receiving God's word.

Hey friend, how ready are you to face the world? How ready are you to overcome the challenges that the enemy is going to aim at you? Is your heart filled with God's word, which is the power in us to defeat the enemy?

Hey friend, I want you to pose a question to yourself, as this helped me a lot. Whenever you see an ugly pit, ask yourself whether this ugly thing is more valuable than the blood and love of Jesus. Every small victory counts. Arresting every small habit that leads to the fall is a big victory. Take charge, my friend.

Dear Father, we rededicate our lives into your hands. Strengthen us, Lord. Let us grow your words in us to have righteousness that never dries up in us.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.