Greetings, Dear Friends!

Susie Larson here...

And to those visiting, I say welcome!

I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul.

If you take the time to post on my blog in February, you may win a $10.00 gift card to either Caribou or Target (your choice). So drop me a note and say hi!

Years ago I was involved in Beth Moore's wonderful "Believing God" Bible study at my church. She encouraged each of us to wear a blue bracelet which signified our commitment to "up our level of sanctification."

We all have areas of subtle compromise or sluggishness, and the challenge was for us to step it up in our commitment to holiness.

Though we know that only God by His Holy Spirit can affect real change in our lives, we are the ones who who take the first steps in either flirting with compromise or walking away from it.

So what about you?

Can you think of an area of your life where you have let down your guard or simply blended with a godless people?

During one of our family meetings when our sons were young, we all stood in a circle, holding hands. I looked each of them in the eyes and said, "You are so important to this family. You are a gatekeeper. Whatever you allow in your life, you allow in ours. Your decisions will always impact more than just you. God has made you that important."

God has been speaking to me lately about that truth in my own life.

Because of the authority God has given my husband and me in our home, our choices carry even more weight than our sons' choices.

With all my heart I believe that where I compromise, I open the door for my sons to struggle even more so.

I'm that important.

And so are you.

This morning I was reading about Lot and Abraham.

Two men.

Both with a knowledge of God and an awareness of right and wrong.

One blended with a godless people, the other interceded for them.

My commentary wrote this about Lot:

(Because of Abraham's intercession...)

"The angels insisted that Lot and his family leave the city. But when he tried to persuade his sons-in-law, they thought he was joking. His backslidden life nullified his testimony when crisis came...We know from 2 Peter 2:7,8 that Lot was a just man, but because of his worldliness, he lost his testimony..." (Believer's Bible Commentary, p. 57).

Now here we see the incredible impact of Lot's decision to compromise:

"Leaving Zoar, Lot fled to a mountain cave. There his daughters made him drunk and enticed him to commit incest with them...Thus began the Moabites and Ammonites, who became recurring thorns in Israel's side. It was the Moabite women who later seduced the men of Israel to commit immorality (Numbers 25:1-3) and Ammonites who taught Israel the worship of Molech, including the sacrifice of children." (p.57)

When most people think of Sodom, they think of sexual perversion, of which there was an abundance. But in Ezekiel 16:49 it says this:

Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

What a sobering word for us!

We live in a blessed and abundantly wealthy country and as a result, we mistakenly think that life is good because we are good. While many die of starvation every day, we struggle with eating, drinking, and buying too much. And though we are aware of the needs around us, we often think mostly of ourselves.

You've heard it said that whatever issues you have as a single person will only be amplified once you're married.

I submit that in whatever ways we compromise, so will our sons and daughters, and even more so.

Not to say that they cannot make the choice to repent for the sinful tendencies we've handed down to them. They can do that, and God will redeem the low areas in their character, but do we really want to leave them that kind of legacy?

If you have a tendency to gossip and judge, I can almost guarantee your kids will follow suit.

If you tend to be the one to grab the best seat, your kids probably do the same thing.

If you tend to cut corners and tell partial truths, turn around and watch, because your kids are learning from you.

May we understand and embrace the impact of our choices today and everyday!

Take an inventory today and ask God to show you what in your life has to go, so you can lay hold of more of Him.

Have a blessed and fruit-filled week!