Like many of you reading this…I have a “Smart” Phone. The store that I bought this phone from has a
protection plan that I pay for monthly and if anything ever goes wrong no
matter what the problem or whose fault it is I can take my phone back to them
and they will order a new one at no cost to me (technically it is a refurbished
phone, but I can’t tell the difference).
Also like many of you, I bought a case for this phone to protect it from
drops, children, myself, and anything else that might happen. The brand name of this case is
“Ballistic”. With a name like that you
would assume it can take just about anything and it can short of being
submerged in water for more than a few seconds.
Now as great as this case is, it turns my thin little phone into a brick
I carry around in my shorts. But as long
as I have the case on my phone nothing should happen to it. However, just in case something does go wrong
I have the protection plan to back that up.
Back in the fall I was getting ready to go with the 12th
Man Ministry at the church where I’m on staff in order to serve our local high
school’s football team and I decided to take the case off my phone so I could
move a little better on the sidelines without this brick flopping around in my
cargo pocket. You can probably figure
out where this is going. While there, I
dropped the phone and cracked the screen.
After that, over the next few months I intermittently used the case and
eventually the cracking got worse from more drops and the phone started to act
like it had been dropped a lot; so, I took it to the store and I get a new one.
I neglected to put the case on the new
one and the very next day I dropped the phone one time in a parking lot and by
the end of the day my screen was completely black from the liquid crystal
oozing all over the inside of the screen. Long story short I have replaced the phone a
total of 3 times now; once because of defect or something, but mostly because I
wouldn’t use the case.
Some of you are probably thinking, “You’re an idiot,” and maybe
I am, but this morning I became okay with that because this morning it hit me; isn’t
this how most of us Christians live out our faith? We have the protection plan for our eternity
in place called GRACE; this grace wipes away all our sins (past, present, and
future) and assures us a new body and eternal life with God in heaven. Whether you realize it or not, as Christians,
we also have a “ballistic” case which is made up of the Holy Spirit, the Holy
Bible, and the Holy
Church , which when used properly can help us
live a life that is as sin free as possible and it also keeps us from experiencing
too much damage when we do sin.
The problem is we often neglect to use the case properly…or
AT ALL for that matter. But we still have the protection
plan right? That’s all we need right? WRONG!!!
Without the case in tact we will be less likely to resist temptation, we
will fall into sin more and more frequently, and we will not be able to
withstand the damage sustained from the falls because it will destroy our lives
and our ability to serve our function which is to glorify the name of God.
Paul in Romans chapter 6 talks about dying to sin because of our commitment to a new life in Christ. I know it is more than a simple scripture reference or a few verses, but I think this larger passage is appropriate. Here is Romans 6:1-18:
1 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Just because we have the protection plan of Grace doesn’t
give us the right to go on sinning. We
must have changed lives, a new focus; living for the glory of God and not
ourselves. If there is no change in our lives then apparently there was no change of heart and that would lead me to say, you have not fully become a servant of Christ. You may have intended to, but you have not began to be obedient and that is a dangerous place to be. James 2:17 says “faith by
itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
The “ballistic” case, otherwise known as, the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Bible, and the Holy
Church is required
equipment for an active Christian life.
We MUST use it properly to protect our ability to function as
ambassadors of salvation to the world in the name of Jesus Christ.
A few weeks ago I
got my most recent replacement phone… this morning I finally came to my senses
and put the case on the phone. As I
walked into the office this morning feeling the weight of the brick back in my
pocket…God gave me the inspiration to write this post and give you this
encouragement…
COME TO YOUR SENSES!!!!! USE THE CASE!!!!!