I frequently read the "idiots guide to whatever" books; I find them very instructive and I can relate to the titles. :) In these books it seems the various authors make mention of "garden-variety" things fairly often. The reference, in the context employed, usually means garden-variety as in "plain, normal, ordinary, commonplace, run-of-the-mill"; average sort of things. In this post I want to bring to light a different, more exciting kind of "garden-variety". This post is kind of a continuation of thought from this morning's entitled "Another Legalistic Mental-Block Crumbles". I hope you enjoy it.In our lives we are provided with and sometimes confronted with a variety of choices. So how do we go about making the best of the choices we are given? Are there really good, better, and best choices or does it really matter in the grand-scheme-of-things what we choose since God is omniscient, He knows the end from the beginning, and He orders all things after the counsel of His own will?In a future post I hope discuss the many imperative verbs (commands) given to us believers in this age of grace. Although now we are no longer required to methodically keep the law (the hand writing of ordinances given to the Old Testament believer) there are nevertheless things that the Lord requires of us. Actually the heart and attitude with which we are supposed to do things has not changed.
"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:8) These are some of the weightier matters of the Law. Jesus said to the Pharisees, "ye have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, (Matt 23:23) Love is the fulfilling of the Law.
But since in Christ there is no longer a spiritual distinction between the Jew and the gentile, the bond and the free, the man and the woman (from Galatians); since as a man I no longer am required to have been circumcised nor do I have to keep the other outward motions of the law what do I do, what do we do, with our manifold choices?
Certainly there are bad choices, we are told to redeem the time because the days we live in are evil. So we don't want to choose wrong things, we don't want to choose sin that will bring us into bondage, but what do we do with equally good options?Well, consider this;In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth and every living species. He made the world to be inhabited and then He made the inhabitants.
(If you're a Deist or a Theist you're okay with this line of reasoning... If you're an Agnostic or Atheist probably not so much okay with it. I'm a Theist who happens to be also a Biblicist in case you haven't guessed where I'm coming from.)
In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth and every living species. He made the world to be inhabited and then He made the inhabitants. When He was done the Word says He saw that it was good, In fact the only thing that wasn't good was that man was alone so He took care of that too. (Thank You LORD!) Then it says, "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." (Gen 1:31)
Then He only gave them one rule. Don't eat of the tree in the midst of the garden. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Simple enough right? (If you know yourself well, you would agree, we would have probably done the same thing they did.)
As New Testament believers we have freedom to choose from a garden-variety of choices. We really only have one rule also. Love the LORD thy God with all your heart, soul, mind, and might. And your neighbor as yourself. You say, "that's two rules." Not really because if you love God you will be loving others also.
When Adam and Eve sinned they died spiritually and they were put out of the garden. Unlike them when we sin we do not die spiritually if we have been born again to new life. But much like them when we sin we cannot walk with God in the cool of the day. If we want to walk with an awareness that we are walking with Almighty God then we need to keep from sin. (Read ‘Walk the Line’ for more on walking with an awareness that we are walking in His presence.)… If we want to walk with an awareness that we are walking with Almighty God then we need to keep from sin. How do we keep from sin? Love God! Jesus said, “You can love me by keeping my commandments.”
Now the New Testament certainly does define sin but I have used up too much of your time already. Look up the words "is sin" in a concordance if you want to do a profitable study of the subject.
One last thought though; I want to make decisions consistent with my spiritual gifts, in accordance with the great commission, and things whereby I may edify others. I want Him to increase in my life while I decrease. So while I have a liberty to make garden-variety decisions, I purposely choose to serve others; my family, my co-workers, and my church. I try to do this consistently and while I do I "walk with God in the cool, and sometimes the heat, of the day."
“He must increase, WE must decrease!”
