If you do not feel as if you are all alone save for Christ, that the pleasures of this world have lost all of their luster, that the transitory things of this life are of no value anymore except for the souls of men, then this letter is not intended for you. If you are not yet this individual this letter may indeed encourage you, but it will not change you, only the conviction of the Hoy Spirit, the submission of your will to God and the Words of God can do that.
The world has promised me many wonderful things and I have obtained an abundant amount of them over the years of my life, only to watch them fade away, or be removed from my presence and replaced with the next desires of my fleshly appetites. None have remained with me over the entirety of my time here, all have either found another to adore them or have returned to the earth from whence they came. I have served this world with great eagerness, much sweat and toil, with most of my life and have received the rewards that it promised, and I have found in every one of these promises’ emptiness. The material things of this world have only given me temporary happiness and have rewarded me only with the false promise that the next item will indeed assist me in that continued happiness. I have known the lie of the adversary.
I have sought the praise of men, diligently seeking their approval for my deeds and words, desiring only to surround myself with those who would reassure me of my value and worth, making myself one of the group so that I would not feel ostracized. My conceits were high, my accomplishments were many, and the guidance of others who could not be of any use to me in my endeavors was shunned. I sought always to lift myself up in my own eyes when others would not recognize my virtues, and when placed in authority over others in various employment areas, this fact was made known to them, that I was now in charge. I knew how to climb the ladder of success both in the world and in the eyes of those that I chose to surround myself with.
My talents were of my own making, and even when they were learned from others, these were never given the honor of that recognition, my skills I honed upon the anvil of vanity and pride, and they were sharp. I knew no self-pity, all challenges were accepted, the boundaries were always pushed. Those who knew me were intimidated by me, and those who were not were shunned, for I sought only my own glory and I had no need for those who could not see it within me. Failure was never an option; perfectionist do not fail. I knew how to live in the fulness of the world.
I was informed of something by a man over thirty-five years ago now, a man of God, a man I should have heeded way back then. He told me that God did not care one bit about all of my accomplishment, that nothing that I had done or achieved in the world mattered one bit to Him, that whatever I did or did not know about the world would not even be considered by Him on the day that I stood before Him to give an account of my life.
Today, I am basically one of the “unseen” at my place of employment, a “Good morning” is about the total extent of the conversations that are directed my way, they do not seek the encouragement that is found in the Word of God, the world still has an iron grasp upon them. I am currently the only follower of Christ there, but the Lord has shown me something in just the past year or so, and though I am not quite sure how to phrase it properly, I must tell you that I no longer seek social interaction with these individuals any more. Our Lord is allowing me to become so rooted in Him that others who do not serve Him as Savior are no one whose company I care to keep any longer for any extended period.
Please do not misinterpret my words here, for these people to come to the grace and knowledge of our Lord is my main concern for them, I feel nothing but extreme sorrow and extreme hope for them, and when the rare conversation does begin, it is of Christ that my words to them I speak. This is why they have no desire to talk with me beyond the pleasantries of the day, and these words of our Lord that He blesses me with for them are never in a pious or self-righteous manner, I too was also once one of them. The words I am given are what they are intended to be for each individual, and as the Lord leads, I speak.
This is why I stated at the beginning of this letter to you that if you do not feel as if you are all alone, then this letter is not intended for you. Those who desire to live the spiritual life, a life devoted to service to Christ, must separate themselves from all others. Our Lord will not suffer second place. As I said, this can be a very difficult subject for some to understand, for they believe that we are to make the lost of the world our friends before we begin to witness to them, and nothing could be further from the truth. If our Lord has blessed you with wisdom in this area you will be able to discern that the lost will inevitably drag you back into the world, for that is our own sinful nature, and it is very easy to return to our own vomit, and as a fool back to our folly. (Prov. 26:11)
Seek out the lost, tell all that will listen of His love for them, but do not move into their house, and do not spend an inordinate amount of time around them. Much wise discernment must be used here, for none of us want to be remiss in the commandment to seek the lost, but always remember, they are not your brothers and sisters in Christ, yet. They still live in sin, the ways of the world are their ways, and it is much easier for us to fall back into our old patterns than for them to fall at the foot of the cross.
The compensation that I felt I needed when I could not find it within myself, the praise of men, I seek no more. The things of the world that I surrounded myself with hold no emotional or eternal value for me any longer, even the wonderful wife that my Lord has blessed me with, the one that has shown me a love that I never knew existed, the love that she showers on me pales in comparison to the love that my Lord has for me.
During my hours at my daily job I am surrounded by individuals that serve themselves, who speak many harsh and perverse words to each other, who banter and jest with each other every day. The few words of worldly kindness that they say to each other are meant only to show a form of compassion that is not truly within them, and the same game is played every day. The spirit of God is not moving in them, and the preaching of the cross is as foolishness to them, (1st Cor. 1:18) and to put it quite bluntly, I have been shown that I am not to throw the pearls of the Word of God to swine. (Matt 7:6) But.
In my dozen years of employment at this location, three have come to know Christ, and I give Him all the glory for them. These three, though all of them have moved on and once again I am without a brother at my job, have made all the rude remarks, the insults to the Words of Christ, and the laughter behind my back all well worth it, and I seek the face of God every day to reach just one more. Our Lord promises great and eternal things to all who will accept His Son as Savior, but He also lets us know that without Him, we will truly be alone. Your loving spouse, your wonderful children, even your brothers and sisters in Christ can never fill that gap that only Christ can fill. Without Him you will always be lonely, nothing, no one can take the place of Christ once you have found Him.
He casts all fear aside, He fulfills every need, all our wants are found in Him, and without Him we are more than alone, we are lost. I am honored to be despised and humiliated at my job, it is a blessing to be shunned by those who know me to be a Christian and want nothing to do with me. I rejoice in the knowledge that it is for His glory when I speak the truths of His words and am hated for them, that when I reprove and correct in love according to His word that I am reviled, that when I am adamant about His Word I am seen as overzealous and a fool. I love being alone with Christ.
