Clean and Unspotted

Every spring the pond is bathed in pollen but I am inclined to think this year has been the worst. The last few weeks there has been a thick yellow dust lying on top of the water. It moves with the direction of the winds. Some days it is more toward the left, then others it’s mostly to the right side. As I look out today on the pond, I am thinking of how that nasty stuff hides the true beauty of the pond.

This thought brings to mind how our true beauty as children of God is disguised by the “pollen” of the world on us. When we spend too much time in the things of this world it is hard for others to see Christ in us. God is always able to see our hearts and even when we’ve slipped off the path He loves us and is just waiting for our whispered prayer of repentance. It’s those we encounter daily on this plane that will have difficulty in seeing that we are in fact Christians.

In James 1:27 we read, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to Visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” My focus here is the last portion of the verse. According to a quote from Bibleref.com the reference to the world is explained as such: To be unstained by the world means that we refuse to be driven by our own appetites and desires and selfish goals. It means not compromising with a system that hates God.

How, you may wonder can we be in the world and not be a part of it? By spending time in God’s Word, in prayer and in fellowship with people of like faith. We are not a perfect people but we are a people saved by a perfect God!

If you realize you’ve become polluted by your time in worldly things, remember God knows our frame (Psalm 103:14) and all we need to do is prayerfully ask Him to forgive us.

Rise up, shake that “pollen” from yourself and walk uprightly in the narrow gate that leads to Life (Matthew 7:13)!