Monday, November 1, 2010

Inheritance

DEVOTION
EPHESIANS
INHERITANCE
Eph 5:3-5
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person — such a man is an idolater — has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
NIV
I am wondering why this sexual immorality would be included in this verse for I am absolutely convinced I do not indulge in unlawful lust. I know this Greek word is a verb, which implies the action of illicit intercourse. But can this also be applied to my thought life? Can I be sure I never ever have even a hint of a thought from time to time? Can I make that claim one hundred percent of the time? I am not absolutely sure. I know I have to, but it is difficult to control every thought all of the time. As to the impurity or living an unclean live, I believe that I am alright with this. I do not think I would consider myself a person who is given over to luxury or lives a recklessly wasteful; wildly extravagant life. I also certainly know without any doubt I am not a person with a heart bent toward greed. Now can I actually say I do not have a desire to have more? I do like to have more of some things. Is that greed in this sense? Should I be content with nothing? Or at least with what I now have? I think so. If I want another pair of better fitting jeans, is that greed? What about wanting to play another round of golf? Or how about wanting to have more for my model railroad, is that greed? Is it simply the desire to have more of self? Questions I must ponder over. Then I still have to deal with the lesser ideas of obscenity, foolish talk and course joking. So much to consider in these verses, maybe I should have broken this up, but it is all one concept so I dare not. I hear this kind of verbiage all the time in the body of Christ. Do I add to it? More questions, more pondering and prayer, so much to keep in mind in my daily life I am convince that I need more of Christ. I know for sure, I need complete honesty within myself. I have to be able to admit the truth, not deceiving myself with false thoughts. This will require a lot of introspective contemplation. I dare not dismiss all this lightly, for I do not want to be left out when it comes to the inheritance in the Kingdom of God.

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