Take Flight

Almost every morning Mister Bill stands at our kitchen window scanning the high places for a hawk that threatens and terrorizes the birds at our feeder and the chickens foraging nearby. We fear for our feathered friends! In James 4:4, we read: "Friendship with the world is enmity with God." This verse is more than just a statement of truth - it is a warning: a child of God cannot maintain two opposing sets of friends! How foolish to imagine we are following after righteousness if we have one foot planted in worldliness. Abraham's nephew, Lot, is a good Biblical example of one who surely must have struggled with the stutter-step between the world and Godliness. Even though he is noted as "righteous" (1 Peter 2:7), Lot chose to settle himself and his family in Sodom, a city of great moral corruption. Saying "no" to worldliness is hard; I suggest harder still is knowing the depth of the world's reach into our lives. The smallest of decisions and most innocent of habits can and often do lead us right into Satan's vice-grip on our hearts. No wonder we commanded not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of  our minds that we "may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2 ESV). Even our feathered friends know when to make a fly-for-it and they do! Be alert and watchful, always ready to ... take flight.