So, I saw something kind of funny here in town this week. I witnessed someone driving alone in their car… wearing a mask… and pulling said mask off to the side so they could take a drag on a cigarette, and then putting their mask back in place. Now, I’m no expert, I will admit, but something about that whole scene just seemed a bit… off… to me.
I have my own feelings about wearing masks… which I will keep to myself in this pondering… but isn’t it a bit counterproductive to wear a device… especially when you are alone in your car… that is supposed to prevent you from contracting a dangerous respiratory disease, yet you displace that device to do something that is actually proven to be WAY more destructive to your lungs in the first place?
Who knows, perhaps the person wearing the mask was simply seeking to honor the directive of our governor, and actually had no confidence in its protection. Perhaps, they were seeking to avoid scorn from others… and so they were wearing a mask for social acceptance. Or perhaps, they didn’t even stop to consider the lunacy of their actions. But one thing is likely… the second behavior is probably more de-structive than the fear of the first.
And even though my immediate response to what I witnessed was an outburst of, “What the World!”… I realized after a bit of pondering that sometimes I do things that are just as foolish in my spiritual life. You know, maybe having the discipline to have my quiet time devotions in the morning, and then mistreating someone later in the day. Praying with someone about a struggle in their lives and then letting my thought life go to places that God would not want. Demonstrating love toward someone else, while I hate something about myself.
The fact of the matter is God is not done with me yet and I am grateful for His grace and patience. The Apostle Paul wrote, “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 7:21-25 NLT
I am so grateful for the work Jesus is doing in my life! I am far from perfect, but I am also far from what I used to be!
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