[bryanfal]

Cost of Living
By Bryan Faltynski


Recently, I had a chance to re-visit a place that my family had lived in for the past two years. We have been out of this place about six months. This city is not the prettiest of cities, it is not the wealthiest region in the U.S., and it certainly is not the most kept up.

In fact, when my wife and I were trying to find an apartment in this city, we had been brought to tears a few times. Not tears of joy, either. Apartment after apartment, and neighborhood after neighborhood was far below what we had left in our old place of residence. It was so bad, that it took God’s perfect placement of many people to show us that this is where He wanted us.

So, we moved to this sub-par city, and began working our way through life. As we lived there, the most curious things started to happen. We started to meet great people, and started to get busier and busier, until one day, we began to stop taking notice of all the imperfections.

The longer we stayed, the more we began to get used to this city. Finally, one day, I caught myself actually liking our surroundings. My mind had become so used to the scenery, that as I stepped over piles of garbage, and picked up broken glass in my lawn, I stopped remembering how nice the place we had left was. I was content.

Then, we moved back to the city from which we had come. I remembered very quickly, what we had given up to move.

Like I said before, I had a chance to go back to this place and visit. As I was driving around I thought to myself, “This can’t be the same place we lived in.” It looked so much more like it did when we had first got there. I truly realized how much I got used to the world around me, which was very much falling apart.

I soon made the correlation between this situation and our lives. Do we really know what we give up in order to live in a dilapidated version of life?

Romans Ch 6 verses 12-14 says:
[12]Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. [13] Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to righteousness. [14] For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Notice that verse 12 says, “do not let” and verse 13 says, “do not offer”. This shows us that we choose to live in sin, just as I chose to live in this run down town. We choose to live in our sin, and like I did, we get used to the scenery of our lives of sin. We become content with a sub-par lifestyle.

Hebrews 12:1b says, “let us throw off the sin everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Notice that it says, “the sin that so easily entangles”, not the sin that causes us to stumble and then leaves us alone. Sin is always entangling. Satan gets in under our radar, and before we know it we are wrapped up. We always choose to entangle ourselves.

It is scary when you realize just how quickly we get used to the surroundings of a lifestyle of sin. We humans pride ourselves in our ability to adapt to our surroundings, when it is precisely this adaptation that is our downfall. We are such strange beings.

My challenge to you, my friends, is to revisit the past “towns” you have lived in. Look around and see how miserable life is without God. Then, with those same eyes look around the “town” you currently live in. Ask God to show you the cost of living in this run-down city.

Then, simply ask Him to move you to a better place. He is better than AAA, his maps are flawless, and he will show you the most breathtaking scenery along the way. Just let Him be the guide.

Good Journey.

[Moose Lover]

Was that the impression you got when you came out to our house to deliver paint? Hey, we don't think too much of GB, either! (Sorry, Packer fans!) Roger T.

[bryanfal]

Originally Posted by Moose Lover

Was that the impression you got when you came out to our house to deliver paint? Hey, we don't think too much of GB, either! (Sorry, Packer fans!) Roger T.

Sorry if I offended you Roger!! I hope you realize that we lived in downtown. You're place is like heaven......gorgeous. In fact most of the country is gorgeous! Downtown was...downtown.

Please try to remember that, the things we miss most are the people such as yourselves, not the scenery. And that is the way it should be, God blesses us through His children as well as His creation. People like you, and the rest of the church, store, and friends, were the reason we were there!!!1

Once again sorry to offend!