…but
there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But
even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what
we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I
say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have
received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:6b-9
Unfortunately, I
didn’t know the aforementioned Scripture and continued to happily, self-servingly entertain the
Jehovah’s Witnesses in my home. I even took the next step of attending studies
at their local kingdom hall. But they quickly became frustrated because they weren’t
making any real progress with me.
Yet, during this time I felt “the
urge” to purchase my first study Bible and attend an evening Bible study at
our church. (I still remember walking hesitantly into that Christian bookstore
for the first time, thrilled to be there, trying to look as though I belonged, hoping
no one I knew saw me perusing the shelves.) Unfortunately, the church
study was cancelled during the summer, so I once again invited the Witnesses to
return to my home for once-a-week “Bible study” while our boys played together.
Frankly, the Bible intimidated me,
but that attitude was merely an excuse. Keeping the Bible at a comfortable distance from my brain and heart served a purpose.
I was hiding.
No longer enjoying intimacy with
God, and ignoring His blueprints for living, gave me an “excuse” for loving and
serving the world. Turning up my nose and deliberately, willfully averting my face from truth, I arrogantly, stubbornly claimed ignorance and showed
preference for a more “enlightened knowledge.” I turned to the secular world
for easier, comfortable answers. That way I could accept what I liked—what was humanly pleasing—and discount the rest. It
seemed so much simpler, more pleasant to listen to it on Sundays and live like
the rest of the world—ignoring it, or outright rejecting it—the other six days
of the week.
But I could no longer ignore the fact that my heart ached to know God in an intimate way. I, like
everyone else, had a God-sized hole in my heart that called to Him; a hole I’d
been attempting to fill up with everything but
Him! I needed to get honest with myself and get to know—really know— Him; I needed to read and study that big love letter He’d
written to the world. No excuses; no more relying on what others thought or
said of Him; no awaiting a more convenient time. And no skipping the Old
Testament!
Being lovingly, firmly urged by
God’s Spirit to search the Scriptures, I finally submitted. At that critical juncture, the Witness friends instantly
recognized my decisive movement away from them and their teaching. The undeclared
division was so strong and eerily palpable they sensed it, commented on it.
Yet I’m grateful for the Witnesses’ first
visit. They forced me to really taste God’s Word, and God’s Spirit caused me to
be ravenous for His truth, to fill the gnawing void with Him and with answers
to the questions. To take my lifeless existence and replace it with Life!
God took a potentially deadly open
door and worked it out for His own good and perfect purpose. He’d certainly
kept his promise: He wouldn’t let me out of His hand. I’d been so arrogant, so foolish
to wander from His sheepfold, believing I was strong enough, big enough, clever
enough to confront the wolves on my own, or stupid enough to deny the existence of any wolves! As He promised,
He’d persistently, diligently searched for His lost sheep, and now I was being
gently carried home.
The Witnesses’ Watchtower books and
pamphlets rapidly disappeared from my shelves because of the potent sense of
evil they emitted. (I know, many of you just wrinkled up your nose, rolled your
eyes and muttered, “Andrea, you’re nuts!”
I assure you I’m not since I tend to be a cynic who rejects sensationalism.)
Just seeing the Watchtower material occupy a place on my bookshelf next to my Bibles, new theology
books and Bible study guides I’d begun to accumulate turned my blood icy and
made me shiver in perceptible fear.
The first thing I did was ask God to
forgive me for allowing evil to gain such an insidious entry into my life.
But the Witnesses forced an
uncomfortable decision by initiating a smoldering clash between truth and
deceit. Even though deceit doesn’t go down without a fight, and may initially
gain some ground, it never wins the
final victory when the Light of the world is the commander on the opposite side
of the battle line.
Even in my weakened state, which
rendered me vulnerable to making a foolish decision, the Lord used my otherwise self-destructive choice to further His good work in a very unusual
way.
________________________________________
NEXT WEEK: Taking a good, hard look at myself—and
my life—and beginning the transformation of becoming a woman of joy and
purpose…
________________________________________
Thanks for
joining me.
Until next week!
Andrea
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