Pull and Persuasion

12.30.2009

Revelation 18:4 4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; New American Standard Bible

In this world it is a matter of choosing; we choose to do what we want to do, to believe what we want to believe, and to act accordingly. What we choose is largely determined by whom, or by what, we are influenced. We must never underestimate the pull and persuasion of culture.

This comment from heaven made in the above verse is significant in my thinking. It is made because His people are in the city or immersed in the culture in which they live. We all are. It’s not so much what the culture is, but what it does to us, that matters – in other words how much its influence impacts our lives, our words, our thoughts and actions. The invitation/command is given to get us to realize what our culture is and does, and the size of its strength and influence; most of the time we are completely immersed without even knowing it.

So what I get from this is, “Hey kids, keep a watch on your lives by staying so close to me so that you don’t get caught up in the seeming innocence of your surroundings that want no part of Me. And when you find yourself there, or nearing there, summon whatever spiritual resources you need to leave. Please.” The invitation wouldn’t be made if the danger wasn’t real…

Father God,

You love me enough to warn me that my culture is a very ungodly and dangerous thing and that if I’m not careful, not only will I be immersed in it but swallowed alive as well. I pray for the spiritual resources that are mine in Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit to resist the pull and persuasion of culture and to remain in that place of being in it but not of it. Thank You, I pray in Jesus’ Name, amen.