"He went out, not knowing where he was going." (Hebrews 11:8)
In the Old Testament, a person's relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person's life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is what Jesus Christ was referring to in Luke 14:26. ("If anyone come to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple.")
Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason - a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted int he knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world.
The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. We feel the presence of God around us when we pray, yet we are only momentarily changed. We tend to keep going back to our everyday ways and the glory vanishes. A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles' wings, but is a life of day-in and day-out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (Isaiah 40:31). It is not even a question of the holiness of sanctification, but of something which comes much farther down the road. It is a faith that has been tried and proved and his withstood the test. Abraham is not a type or an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith - a faith, tested and true, built on the truth God. "Abraham believed God..." (Romans 4:3).
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Hmm.. I think this concept of separation is very intriguing - The New Monastics are really big on this in the form of relocation, as it is often so necessary to remove yourself from the normal life of overconsumption, capitalism, narcissism etc. that permeates our culture. This separation is probably a good first step for us, but I'm not totally sure how to get this done.??
ReplyDelete"separated mentally and morally" as in regards to the relationship of friends and family members that are not living acording to Gods word. These words have simplified similar thoughts that I have also had. - Justin Krauss
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