Texas U- Turn

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 2 timothy 2:22

Listened this morning to Alistar Begg's August 3rd sermon entitled 'Useful to the Master.' What a blessing it is to have access to these sermons, in this case, through his Truth for Life app.  I just love listening to such a wonderful teacher.

The sermon is full of great teaching but it boils down to the need to be pursuing righteousness if we wish to be in a position to serve Jesus. To be a useful vessel for the
Lord's use, we must be striving, at all times, to avoid sinfulness.

Alistar emphasizes scriptures that use the verb Flee when it comes to avoiding sin...
an active turning away from what is wrong in God's sight, away from who it is that might
lead us to sin (the company we keep), away from all those things called temptations often
set before us by satan. In other words, getting the heck out of there as fast as we can and
turning toward that which is righteous.

This all brought to mind my amazement at U-Turns in Texas. Having lived most of my
life in Ohio, where U-Turns will get you an immediate fine, I suddenly was aware of the
fact that you can U-Turn in Texas pretty much anywhere and at any time. 

Fleeing from sinful situations can be seen as taking a personal, active U Turn away from
that which can lead to sin. We have help in the Holy Spirit, but we must be actively on
guard and aware so that we present to God a person worthy of His useage. Just as
repentance is a turning away from sinful habits, we can also avoid them by keeping in
mind the glory of being selected by our God for His good use and plan.

Alistar points out that a surgeon will not pick up a dirty surgical instrument to use 
during an operation, so we, too, must allow God access to a clean and righteous
servant. He has glorified us by chosing is; we need to thank Him by being worthy.
It's a tough task, one that will not always be sufficient, but we have God's glorious
forgiveness when we slip up. Our heart's desire should be to limit them!

Praise God!