So it's been a big night/day - Osama Bin Laden has been killed. And people have a lot to say about it. When there is so much unrest in the Middle East, and maybe even in your own home/family, many rest in relief at one less worry.
As I watch the news about the attacks in Libya as well as those on Bin Laden, I hear of the "bystanders" that were also killed. It seems like God has been impressing a lesson upon my heart over the past week or so, reminding me how far wide the hands of sin reach, how our sins affect others, and in my lesson specifically, how it affects the children too. Plus, it's been obvious how iron sharpens iron, or doesn't, depending on your company.
Gaddafi's youngest son and 3 of Gaddafi's grandchildren were killed in the process of trying to fight against Gadaffi himself. Osama Bin Laden's son was killed, plus others in his house including a woman who was apparently used as a human shield during the firefight. It's so evident that the sin has permeated through several generations of the family, that these evil leader's children suffered because of their father's sins, but also because of their association.
As I talk to people in my life, I hear of hurting people in their lives. Those going through the loss of a child, divorce or potential divorce, drug addiction, promiscuity, & broken friendships and relationships. It's unbelievable the effects sin has on the life of the sinner, as well as those is close proximity. And we're all sinners, but those who have surrendered their life to Christ have been saved by grace and escaped the wages for our sin: death and hell. But we still have the tendency towards sin, we're still tempted. I hope that the lesson I'll take away is that sin is selfish. It's me thinking I know better than God (sound familiar - Eve thinking the serpent knew more, believing that God had lied to her...) and I don't think about how my sin might affect Wes, or Emersen or my friends, family and/or co-workers.
At our church, our youth group is going through a series called "One Month To Live." We're contemplating how our life might look different if given the news we only had 30 days to live. In reality, we're not given any indication of how much time we have left. In Matthew6, Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow because today has enough worries of it's own. I think we can all agree on that. So we're talking about 6 things in 1 Timothy 6 that God tells us to pursue - godliness, faith, love, gentleness, endurance, and righteousness. We talked last night about fear being the absence of faith in our big God. We talked about how we would talk to people, address conflict, forgive, and love more if only given 30 days to live - that we would live passionately and have the courage to follow our God given passions regardless of the risk. This attitude or perspective helps us live in a way to glorify God rather than please ourselves and reduces the risk we run of creating stumbling blocks for others in our lives with our selfish desires and sin.
We talked about how life is short, how we have no guarantees, so we best be knowing where we're going once our physical life is over? Do you know with 100% certainty?
I included a little picture of Emersen because 1) she's so cute 2) to remind you that really, my blog is to communicate her development 3) to lighten the mood 4) and most importantly, she's the inspiration for my thoughts as now I have to think how my actions affect her life.
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