When You Know Better, You Do the Same Things

I remember the time that I threw a party to celebrate God coming through for me with an apartment and a job. I was so excited about this party because a few of my friends were coming from out of town and I had invited a pretty large group of friends that were already in the city. Preparations were in full swing when I realized that we didn't have enough alcohol. I was just about ready to panic, but one of my friends went out and picked up extra bottles of vodka so that we would not run out.

The party went over without a hitch. We ate, drank, and were very merry. This party would have just been a part of a memory if it had not been for what happened after. The next day I invited a few of the party goers to church. The response that I received was the same. "Why would I go to church with you when the church folks were the drunkest ones at the party?"

I attempted to persuade them, but each person shut me down with the same response. At first I was angry. How dare they just decide they will not go to church with me because people were drinking. Who exactly did they think they were? I was so indignant that I began to talk about how they were going straight to hell for turning down an invitation to fellowship with God. I didn't have my epiphany moment until months later.

I was the one in the wrong. I was the one who told all my friends that I had given my life to God. I was the one who threw a party under the guise of it being for God when in all actuality it was about me and my friends hanging out and getting drunk. I was the one who dressed up like a Christian, talked liked a Christian, and lived the same life I'd been living before. I was the one who knew better but still continued to do the same thing.

Owning the fact that I was to blame meant I had to also own that I had not actually given anything to God. I had a religious experience, but I had done nothing to foster a real relationship. You see a real relationship with God will cause you to want to keep company that looks, talks, and acts like Him. But first, I had to learn how to be the company that I was seeking.

Proverbs 13:20 NIV

Walk with the wise and become wise,

    for a companion of fools suffers harm.

Adayinthelife:-)