Sitting On The Fence

[Mick Alexander]

Sitting On The Fence

"Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."
(James 4:4 NIV)

Some churchgoers are quite happy being in church and in sin at the same time. They are very comfortable, thinking that they can have the best of both worlds; they are enjoying the lusts of the flesh and will one day enjoy the pleasures of heaven also ... so they think!

However, the Bible makes it clear that we cannot be in sin and in Christ at the same time. James 4:4 makes this very obvious where it says, "Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." We can't be a friend of God when we have one foot in this sinful world and one foot in Christ, like someone sitting on a fence. The following story brings out this truth:

There was a crowd of people standing in a field with a fence dividing them into two groups. Jesus came and took the little group of people who were on His side of the fence and then the Devil came and took the larger group. After this, there was one man left sitting on the fence. The Devil came back and told the man to come with him but the man said, "I don't belong to you, I'm sitting on the fence." The Devil replied, "Oh, but you do belong to me. I own the fence."

We are either saved or lost, there is no in between. Either Jesus is our Lord, keeping us from continuing in sin and preparing us for heaven, or the Devil is our lord, helping us to enjoy the pleasures of this sinful world before we are taken off to hell. We can't be in sin and in Christ at the same time. Let's be like Joshua who told the Israelites that they had a choice of serving the Lord or the gods of this world and then he said, "... as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD" (Josh. 24:15).

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Mick Alexander

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