Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Roadblock

I am a procrastinator. I know it too. I do not do much about it, hence the procrastination. Sometimes think it is because I know I work under pressure. Sometimes it is sheer laziness. Sometimes it is because I do not want to do whatever it is. Lately it is because I forget. My mind has been a little taxed. Regardless, I am the procrastinator. Me and nobody else.

It always amazes me how I get in my own way. If you think about it, every problem or shortfall we have, ultimately is of ourselves. As much as we would like to blame somebody or something else, we are the ones responsible for our actions, reactions, thoughts, etc. The cure for my procrastination is simple. Don't procrastinate. Unfortunately, I don't want to work on my procrastination, because I'll do it later.
I am my own roadblock.

Bible study last week had nothing to do with procrastination, but it had to do with judging. Ashlie taught out of Matthew Ch. 7:1-6 which is Jesus telling his audience not to judge. Easy enough? Not so much. The word for judging is "krino" which is used in scripture in relation to three definitions. The first is to make a decision (Titus 3:12), the second is to judge by court (John 18:31), and the third is to expose a man's heart (1 Cor. 4:5, John 7:24). In Matthew 7, Christ is referring to the third definition. He is telling us not to judge someone's heart/character based on their actions. He is telling us not to worry about what someone else is doing, because we have enough of ourselves to worry about. A person's actions are based on their heart, but the intentions of their heart are not ours to be known. They are God's. (summary from Ashlie's Bible study)

I judge because of my heart, because of the disobedience in my heart. Maybe if I look at someone else's disobedience or what I perceive to be their disobedience, then maybe I'm not so bad after all. Maybe my judging is in response to my jealousy of someone else. Maybe it is because I just think I'm right and they are wrong. Maybe it is because I can be self-righteous. Maybe it is all of the above.

I think what struck me most about the Bible study last week, that I will continue to use as a filter in my life, is that judging is a roadblock in my sanctification. If God is growing me on the road to holiness, I need to always ask myself, is this a roadblock? If it is, it is me, and that is what I need to ask God to shed me of. I don't want to pass judgment on anybody else. I am so weak. I fail daily. I do not even deserve to compare myself or look upon someone else. My darkness is brought to light by God. God deals with each of our own darkness. Thank goodness, because we can't handle the darkness.

I hope the only decision we make will be to seek God. I pray that we will leave the judging to Him. I pray that we will see our roadblocks and ask God to make them into construction zones. I pray that God will make light on our road to holiness by revealing the disobedience in our hearts.

1 comment:

  1. I will be honest here... My roadblock is my own pride. More often than I like to admit, I think my pride gets in the way and "allows" me to judge. I will be printing this one for further reading and study.

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