Convicted

Convicted!

I just finished reading Dina Seaton's Victory Call entitled "Flying Fish" in which she recites the story of a friend who was speeding so fast that her Flying Fish (symbol of Christianity) came right off her car. I then started thinking about Marilyn Heavilin's Victory Call this same week in which she ended with the statement, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"

Boy, do I stand convicted. Not because of my speeding, but because I really do wonder if I were arrested would I be convicted on the preponderance of the evidence (see, I do watch Judge Judy) that my life belongs to Christ, and I am a new creature because He lives in me and motivates what I say, and think, and do.

How easy it is to have that old spirit of mine rear its ugly head in my life every day. I wake up late, so I'm running late to get to work, so I'm impatient with the person driving oh-so-slowly in front of me. As he turns off, I honk my horn loudly at him to express my displeasure at him. Stupidly, I feel so much better because I let him know how bad his driving was. I get stuck in the slowest line at the grocery store and shift impatiently from one foot to the other as the person in front of me unloads 20 items in the "10 items or less" lane. You know how it works - you don't need to say a word (OK, maybe a loud sigh). The impatient, angry attitude can be tangibly felt.

And then I go to prayer meeting and sit in absolute hypocrisy, praying with my group, that God will give me opportunities to share Christ and His transforming work to those with whom I come in contact.

Well, guess what? God did just EXACTLY what I asked Him to do. He gave me opportunities, and I failed to make the most of them. Not only would no one I met be able to convict me of being Christ-like, there was nothing in my attitude to make them even WANT to have what I have.

My prayer before God and you all today is that I will be convicted AND more importantly, CONVICTING, as I go through my day. "God make me the witness to my co-workers, acquaintances and friends that you are the One who gives me joy, peace, and victory over the actions in my life, and that they will KNOW I am a Christian because of the preponderance of the evidence." Lynn Randall is the Director of Human Resources at America's KESWICK