Mia’s Choice

   Mia was out and about when she ran into her friend, Edward. It had been awhile since the last time she saw him. How nice it was to see him again! Mia and Edward were chit-chatting happily when suddenly, Edward brought up Mia’s husband, Tom. He made a subtle suggestion that Tom was too overbearing. That his rules for Mia were excessive. That it was wrong for Tom not to allow her to go out with her guy friends once in awhile. Mia was disturbed and surprised! She always thought she had a happy marriage. It had never occurred to her that her husband might be too strict. She quickly dismissed the thought, but since she didn’t want to offend Edward, she didn’t correct his assumptions. She was too embarrassed to tell him that the decision not to go out with other men had been entirely her own. 

   Months passed, and Mia continued to run into Edward around town. It seemed that every time she saw him, he made some comment about Tom, and the comments were never positive. At first, Mia just brushed them off, but eventually she started to wonder, “Why is Tom so strict with me?” The more she thought about it, the more unreasonable his rules for her seemed. She never asked Tom about them. If she had, my guess is that he might have said, “Sweetheart, I’m just trying to protect you.” As it was, her anger grew toward him daily. She no longer noticed the sweet things he did for her every day, nor did she remember why she had loved him in the first place. She felt that she deserved more freedom. Tom began to seem like a sort of prison warden standing between her and happiness. A day came when Mia decided she could bear this tyranny no longer, and she left Tom, and reclaimed her liberty. 

  Her new independence allowed her to work a 40-hour week, pay her own bills, and enjoy life in her own way. She married a second time, and a third, but she was always careful never to lose her freedom again. Never to let a man control her life. Mia was free! 

  There’s a sickness that is going around in your neighborhood. It is highly contagious, and if it reaches your heart, it is almost always fatal. Its main danger is that you don’t know when you’re sick. In fact, you may feel better than ever! It’s not a new sickness…it’s older than the measles. It’s called “rebellion”.

  There are a couple common ways to catch this sickness. The first is a way I think every Christian must be familiar with. You hear a little voice telling you in your head that your parents, your husband, or your pastor is wrong. That you know better. That you’re smarter, and more spiritual. It feels good to hear these things! After all, who doesn’t want to be smarter and more spiritual? If the voice we heard came out of a snake’s mouth, and said, “You know what, God just doesn’t want you to eat that fruit because it’ll make you wise like Him,” we would probably recognize the voice and reject it immediately. (Genesis 3:5) That is exactly what we should do with proud and rebellious thoughts. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” -James 4:7

  The other way to get sick is harder to avoid. It also has to do with a voice, but this time, it’s a human voice. Anyone who is infected can infect others, simply by speaking to them. It happens often in churches. Infected people have a lot to say about their spiritual authorities, and none of it is good. Long ago they picked up the disease and now they’re feverish with it. They have become a person who God hates. One who sows discord among brethren. (Proverbs 6:16-19) All they want is a listening ear! Specifically, they want your listening ear. 

  The disease is highly contagious, so the chances are that after your exposure, you will feel a bit confused. You’ll begin questioning things that you have never questioned before. You may begin to separate yourself from your church. This is exactly how the sickness is designed! 

  God says that He gave us spiritual authorities, “for the perfecting of the saints”.(Ephesians 4:12) Wouldn’t you like to be perfect? Well, there’s a person given to you to help you grow up into all the fullness of Christ, and that’s your pastor. (Ephesians 4:13) 

  Hebrews 4:13 says, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” We need someone to watch for our souls! Otherwise, God wouldn’t have provided us with earthly shepherds. On the other hand, 1 Peter 5:8 tells us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” If your enemy can separate you from God’s flock, it will be an easy matter for him to devour you. 

  Over the years, many people that I loved have succumbed to this sickness. Very few have recovered. 

  The Bible says, 

     “Enter not into the path of the wicked, 

      and go not in the way of evil men. 

      Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, 

                     and pass away.” 

                                            -Proverbs 4:14-15 

     “know ye not that the friendship of the   

      world is enmity with God? Whosoever 

      therefore will be a friend of the world is 

                   the enemy of God.”

                                           -James 4:4 

      “He that walketh with wise men shall

     be wise: but a companion of fools shall

                          be destroyed.” 

                                            -Proverbs 13:20

  I think Mia was infected with a bad case of rebellion. If you knew Tom like I know him, you would understand that he isn’t a strict guy at all! Edward made all of that up. What should Mia have done when Edward first bad-mouthed Tom? She didn’t want to offend Edward. She wanted to keep him as a friend. But you know what? Mia couldn’t be friends with both Edward and Tom. She had to choose between them. By continuing her friendship with Edward, she ended her marriage with Tom. 

  Today, you and I have to choose. We have to choose between the devil and Jesus. People who are speaking rebellion have opened their hearts to the devil. If we keep their friendship, we will lose our relationship with God. 

Who will you choose? 

     “I have decided to follow Jesus;

      I have decided to follow Jesus;

      I have decided to follow Jesus; 

      No turning back, no turning back.

      Though none go with me, I still will follow;

      Though none go with me, I still will follow;

      Though none go with me, I still will follow;

      No turning back, no turning back. 

     The world behind me, the Cross before me; 

      The world behind me, the Cross before me;

      The world behind me, the Cross before me; 

      No turning back, no turning back.”