One morning a couple of weeks ago, a friend asked me if I had experienced any “Heatherisms,” meaning crazy things that happen to me and rarely anyone else.  I told her no and that things were relatively boring.  As the Lord would have it, that evening I was out on a walk talking with my aunt.  While I was walking and talking, a deer appeared in the road.  I tried to shoo it off, but it stepped towards me.  I immediately turned around to walk away from it, but it followed me and was close enough to lick me.  I began walking faster and so did the deer.  Pretty soon I was running full speed down the hill, with my aunt Sandy on the line, and the deer literally galloping behind me.  It was terrifying.  I thought that it either wanted me to pet it or it wanted to eat me.  Thankfully, the deer turned off on to the golf course and I was safe. So, for that friend who asked…your wish came true :)

I have had so many things like this happen and many have said I should write a book, but a book about things of this nature seems so pointless, although I have to say that laughter is good medicine.  As I have thought about the deer incident, it came to me this morning that it paints a picture of the act of turning from sin, an action necessary for salvation and an action necessary for walking closely with the Lord. 

What is our condition before coming to Christ? 

The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

How does God respond to this?

God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). 

What does that mean?

It means that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved (Romans 10:9-10). 

What is our condition in Christ?

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (II Corinthians 5:17). This is good news!  In Christ, we are no longer sinners, we are saved sinners.  We are actually referred to as saints.

As saints, what do we do when we still sin? 

We confess our sins, knowing that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). We repent, and turn again, that our sins may be blotted out (Acts 3:19).  

We humble ourselves, and pray and seek the Lord’s face, and turn from our wicked ways, trusting that the Lord will hear from heaven and will forgive our sin and heal our land. (II Chronicles 7:14).

As I think about that deer that was crouching in the shadows desiring to have me, it represents sin. Genesis 4:7 says, “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” How do you rule over sin? You don’t pet it!  You run from it as fast as you can, just like I ran away from that deer.  And as you are running, you remind yourself of who God is and who you are in Him. When you do that, you rest in Him and thank Him, just like I rested when I walked through our front door thanking the Lord for sparing me from getting eaten by a deer. 

In closing, I want to appeal to you, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2).  In Christ, our lives ought to look very different from what is going on in the world and how the world is responding.  The world is responding with fear, pride, and self-reliance.  We, in Christ, need to fear not, humble ourselves, pray and seek the Lord, turn from our sin, know the signs of the times and be ready, trust the Lord, and be salt and light to this broken world.

Blessings to you,

Heather

Here are the songs ‘Invitation’ by Steven Curtis Chapman https://youtu.be/hRNe40Lu-1I ‘The Change’ by Steven Curtis Chapman https://youtu.be/QgpEwGoSLB8