A friend of mine just received some crushing news. It seems one of his friends was leading a double life and the man’s wife just discovered it. Needless to say, the news is destroying his family and breaking my friend’s heart in the process. He thought he knew this guy. From all outward appearances he was a stand up guy who loved his wife and kids. No one would have ever known he was leading a double life.
Would anyone ever accuse you of leading a double life? Do you act differently when an audience is watching than when no one is looking? What do you spend your time watching on television? What kind of books do you read? What do your thoughts reveal about your heart? Would you be doing these things if Jesus was standing there? I had a neighbor who used to say “If you can’t do it with Jesus standing there then you shouldn’t be doing it at all.”
The enemy is constantly trying to blur the lines between right and wrong. If he can mucky up the waters and cause us to stumble and fall, then there becomes less and less difference between us and the world. God called us to be different, set apart [Psalm 4:3]. We are to be salt and light to this world [Matthew 5:13-14]. God clearly tells us in Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is– his good, pleasing and perfect will.” As Christians we are to be clearly different from the world and consistent with our walk, in public and in private.
Joshua states things clearly in Joshua 24:15 when he says “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Who will you serve today?