Where are Your Feet Planted

     This morning I am getting to do one of the things that I most hate! I have to admit that I don’t have a good attitude about it either. I am sitting in a tire and mechanic shop. It wasn’t so bad when the facility was new and shiny but now it has the total ‘man shop’ appearance. It isn’t really the appearance alone; it is everything about it. I can’t stand the smell of tires and there are stacks of them all over the place. I am getting a headache just smelling it. I actually think I am allergic to it cause I find it very hard to breathe. Another thing that I hate is that I am the only woman in here and I have been the only woman for half an hour. The men talk about cars and parts. They hack and clear their throats like a bunch of old men. The coffee pot is disgustingly dirty; I can’t believe that anybody would drink out of it. There are parts, batteries, belts, and boxes everywhere. There are two deer heads hanging on the wall along with many car posters. I am totally out of my element.
     As a Christian I should feel the same way about the world I live in. It should be a place I'm not comfortable with. It should stink to me and make me sick at times. I should feel like an alien. The behavior of worldly people should make me uncomfortable. Sin should disgust me.
     The problem is that as Christians we often embrace the world. We love keeping one foot in the world and one foot in our life as followers of Jesus Christ. We become a part of the world while we strive to be more spiritual. We set our self up for a good disaster when we try to serve two ways of living. It reminds me of a canoe trip Dwayne and I took in college. One of the friends we went with brought his St. Bernard. It was an amazing picture to see this huge dog floating down the river in a canoe! When we got to a slow place in the river, the dog decided he wanted to get into a different canoe. He put two feet in one canoe and two feet into another; then he froze! Soon the canoes started separating and the dog ended up in the water but he didn’t know how to swim!
     When we do not see the world as full as evil as it is, we often start to love the things of this world. When we start to love this world, we will divide our loyalty and loyalty divided is not loyalty.

Don't love the world or anything that belongs to the world.  If you love the world, you cannot love the Father.  Our foolish pride comes from this world and so do our selfish desires and our desire to have everything we see.  None of this comes from the Father.

1 John 2:15