Sunday Morning, Apr 13, 2008,

Open my eyes that I might see, glimpses of truth thou hast for me… 

This old song, though new to some of us, is our prayer.  What an infinite God we serve!  How can we know the vast depth of His knowledge?  Surely His ways are high above ours, yet He gives us “glimpses” into His heart every now and then – glimpses which cause everything false to disappear. 

The song went right along with the lesson this morning as Bro Dillow lead a group discussion about how to determine what type of activities to engage in which are not clearly spelled out in the bible.  God’s word does not give a complete list for Christian conduct, but instead, gives guidelines so it will always be up to date with changing times.  Some churches have a code of conduct spelled out which their members must adhere to, and technically when something questionable arises, if it is not in the code book yet, they are allowed to do it.  But God wants us to understand the “spirit” of His law, not the letter.  We need to get the principles of His law down in our mind (like a formula) so that we can apply them to any situation we face.  Several things we concluded when determining whether or not to participate in an activity include: 

·       Can I do it and give God glory?  Or would He be ashamed of me? 1 Cor. 10:31.

·       Does it become addicting to the place where IT controls me, taking up too much time or causing me to act in a negative way I wouldn’t do otherwise? 1 Cor. 6:19-20

·       Is it holy? 1 Peter 1:15-16

·       Is it appropriate in this situation or would it adversely affect someone?  1 Cor. 6:12 

God is reasonable and expects us to use our reasoning powers in the decisions we make.  We cannot rely on impulse or even our conscious for these can be taught wrongly or manipulated by outside forces.  We must consider God’s principles and our divine reasoning and they will lead us down the right path.

It was a very balanced lesson and was an invaluable tools for everyone present, especially our youth.