Courting Danger

The thought of being unequally yoked together with a non-believer sends chills up my spine.  The important, common denominator that is needed to build a solid relationship is missing. 

I was taught in school that finding the same common denominator in fractions was most important to the success of obtaining right answers to math problems.  They must be the same or we are just spinning our wheels.

Compassionate love making, though wonderful, can fade with time, as does beauty and miscellaneous entertainment.  Thrill seekers place much emphasis on such things, as the common denominator to bring answers for a satisfying life.  Things can grow wearisome, because the denominator that is needed for a fruitful existence is lacking. 

Most denominators in the world can prove to be hazardous to your health.  At times, a person can easily be courting danger without knowing the threat.  Or through rebellion, others may pursue the world’s supposed grandeur, for want of solidarity, regardless of the danger.

How can a person with Godly desires blend with a person having their mind on worldly entertainment?  Success and right answers are impossible to achieve.  It’s like trying to mix oil and water together.  It cannot be done, because of the difference in properties.

When I was a non-believer I walked and talked like everyone around me.  I felt comfortable in the environment of my peers and worldly pleasures that surrounded me.  My sights remained at eye level with the world; because I was afraid to lift them higher for fear that I may have to give up something that I thought was important to my happiness.

It took a while before I raised my eyes toward heaven to realize that I was courting danger; danger not only to my physical wellbeing, but spiritual health as well.  I learned that sinful disobedience to God’s commandments brought temporary pleasure, but it was seasonal at best; nothing lasting.  My willful indulgence of sin proved to be a frustrating approach to finding happiness.  My unsatisfying journey in the search for stability was in vain.

Wine, women and song were not melodies that eased the pain of desire, nor did they sooth the itch for recognition.  They only brought a deeper thirst for something that the world could not quench.  The need to feel connected and loved was beyond my reach. 

No matter how hard I tried I could not find a meaningful substance to fill the emptiness within my thirsting soul.  The void was always there.  Nothing I sampled could bring peace to my troubled soul.  The harder I pushed for answers the more ravaged and empty I became.  Answers escaped my formulas for success.

Though the common denominators in the world seemed similar to what I was looking for, they were only counterfeits for the real thing.  It wasn’t until I concluded that the void in my soul was God-shaped that understanding came.  Though I tried aimlessly to fill this emptiness with the common denominator of booze, drugs and promiscuous living, nothing could satisfy the longing except God.  The common denominator of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit would not mix with the things of the world.  They are of different properties at opposite ends of the spectrum.  

God helped me realize that courting danger only brought pain and suffering, because sin does this.  There is no way that anything, other than God, can fill the longing in a person’s soul.  They can have money to burn, power to rule nations, or beauty and fame beyond imagination, but none of these things can bring lasting happiness.  It’s all temporal, meaningless and futile.

Only God through His son Jesus can fulfill what we have need of, which is a Savior for our sin-sick soul.  Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life.  We find God’s forgiveness through Him.  Then and only then are things in right order…God first, and then the desires of the heart second.  God supplies our need according to His riches in glory.  There is fulfillment at last; just a prayer away.

Written by,

Papa Boyd