Crossing the Line

My Mornings with Jesus and Joe

Sometimes we draw a line in the sand by saying “No, I’m not going to be a part of that.” And sometimes it’s a good choice to make. Ex. John 8 “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one,

It’s a bad thing though when it means not doing something we are called or commissioned to do by God through His Word.

What are some of the things God commands us to do:

Care for widows and orphans. James 1:27 to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Speak up for those without a voice Proverbs 31:8-9 Open your mouth for the speechless,In the cause of all who are [a]appointed to die. 9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

Love our neighbors as ourselves Luke 10:27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Micah 6:8 and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

We can agree with everything we find in God’s Word, but if we only believe it without putting it into action we’re no better than if we haven’t believed it at all.

Our verse …

But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

Sometimes you have to draw a line in the sand. Even when you’re the one who needs to step over it.

We have a very real enemy, black flag of no quarter over our churches and families, our governments and schools. He wants the end of everything God has created. And that means all of mankind.

There is no neutral party in this war.

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah draws a line in the sand with the words, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”

I love that he uses the word “limping,” as though we’re not fully functional until we’ve stepped firmly over the line—one way or the other.

One of the most powerful “line in the sand” moments is found in Judges 7:3 in the story of Gideon.

Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. Judges 7:3

Over two thirds of the men turned back from war because they were afraid. When we look back to Judges 6:7, we find that the children of Israel had cried out to God for deliverance from the very people they were now too afraid to fight. They wanted an end to the oppression and a chance for a better life, but they didn’t have the courage to fight for it.

We can talk about ending abortion, broken families, abuse, addictions, racism, hatred, and oppression. We want to see biblical marriage restored and honored, God in our schools, and an end of human trafficking.

But when it comes to crossing the line to fight in that battle, we won’t take that step. T

Every bit of ground we don’t take for the Kingdom of God is ground we give to the enemy.

If we won’t cross it now when it may cost us much less, will we cross the line when it could cost us our jobs, our homes, our lives?

Jesus said that if we want to do His work here on earth, we can’t look back to the world we came from. “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Stepping forward takes commitment, determination, and grit. Need we need to count the cost.

My prayer has become …

Oh my soul, march on in strength. Judges 5:21