White Lines and Guardrails

07.22.12

1 Peter 1.17 17 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth… NASB

If there is one dominant theme in the Bible it is this: the relationship we have with God the Father ought to have a major impact on who we are and how we act. Our behavior isn’t what saves us, but it sure is an indicator of what we believe.

Peter said in effect, “Lookit! If you call God your God, then you ought to act as if He is your God.” Behavior isn’t the relationship; it’s the result of the relationship. What we believe will affect what we do.

It’s important to remember that God will judge (evaluate) everyone’s conduct (behavior). God because of His omniscience and omnipresence looks at each of us and sums up our days. It’s also important to remember that God is acquainted with all of our days – there isn’t a moment of time we live on this earth that God isn’t aware of who we are, what we think, and what we do. Peter is telling us: God knows.

Now, there are at least two ways to approach what Peter is telling us: the two most common might be: 1. Oh no! I’ve been caught! Or 2. God is my Father and I am not going to do that… (whatever it is). It’s like cookies in the kitchen cupboard: if mom says stay out of them, then because I call her Mommy, I ought at least to respect her authority over me and obey her command: Stay out of the cookies!. Mommy’ll whack me if I disobey… (mine did J).

My behavior reflects what I believe and where I place my trust. Many will claim God’s grace (His smiling, warm, and pleasant favor) will cover up my indiscretions but if I really think that, I really don’t respect Him. Peter said we ought at least to respect the One we call Father and behave accordingly.

Our behavior is like guardrails along the highway. But sometimes it’s also like the white lines along the side of the road. Lines deserve as much respect as the guardrails do. And whether or not there is tangible results or intangible, God deserves our respect and our conduct shows where our respect is; it’s not legalism, but love. Miss the white lines sometimes and there may not be much consequence; but miss it often enough and the results could be dire. But it a guardrail once – well you better call the body and fender shop.

Behavior is important because behavior is the result of what we really think. Sow a desire reap a thought. Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a destiny. It all boils down to what we think; and what we think of enough reveals what we actually believe. Peter is telling you and me to call God, God, and then to act according to Who He is, and what we call Him. Our behavior is our strongest visible witness of the of the presence of God in our lives.