"Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you, when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone. “So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.” [Genesis 35:1-5]
What happens after the altar call? What happens after you pray, ask forgiveness of sins, ask Jesus into your heart? Do you just get up the next morning, go about your day, and act like nothing incredible happened?
Jesus saved me over two thousand years ago, for it was His work on the cross that saved me. I had nothing to do with it; it was all Him, a profound and incredibly sacrificial gift from my Savior, to me [and the rest of the world]. But like any gift, it must be accepted and opened. After all, one does not leave a gift unopened, right?
July 17, 1983. I was 12 years old. I had heard my pastor, Dr. Rick Blackwood, preach a sermon that morning from the book of Revelation and I surely did not want to be left behind to experience the horror of the Tribulation. I wanted to experience new life in Christ, even though for the life of me now, I can't remember much before then. So, laying there, in reality looking up at my Holly Hobby canopy bed but spiritually looking way past it, I asked Jesus to save me from my sins, asked His forgiveness, and gave my life to Him. Even now I can hear the angels rejoicing. I was baptized a week later.
After that, my dear grandmother showed me what to read in the Bible that my dear Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Dorothy Pratt, gave me at my baptism. It's white, zipper binding, King James. Type is far too small for me to read now. But thanks to my Memaw and Mrs Pratt, the words from that Bible jumped clear off the page and right into my heart. I carried that Bible and several other Christian books around in a giant suitcase. Why, I don't know.
Through my teen years, I knew God was with me, even though I read a little less each day from the Word, and over time, prayed a little less each day. Then, in college, I got to know other people who believed in the totally unbiblical, false theology of the bumper-sticker movement "coexist." I tried to blend in, because at that time of Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, it was not "cool" to be Christian. I did not know about the awesome Christian rock band Newsboys back then. Like Jacob's wife Rachel in Genesis, I yearned to fit in, to follow the crowd, to hoard the societal gods and not stand out; for someone, like me at the time, being painfully shy and scared to death of speaking to anyone trumped anything. I wanted to be the wallflower, blending into the background.
While I know that Jesus did wash me me white as snow and forgave me of my sins that warm July night, the periods of justification and sanctification came much later. These two concepts are sometimes hard to understand, especially along with the concept of salvation. "Salvation" is what Jesus did on the cross according to God the Father's perfect and divine will, the gift that God gave us through His Son (John 3:16). "Justification" is the biblical teaching that, by grace alone through faith alone, God counts believers in Jesus Christ (and only in Jesus Christ) to be perfectly righteous and totally acceptable in his presence forever. We are washed in His blood, we are made spotless because and through Him. "Sanctification" is what God does in our lives after salvation. It is placing circumstances, people, events, etc in our lives and paths so that He can work in us and build our faith. This is the part that Paul meant when he wrote "work out your own salvation" [Philippians 2:12]. This teaching means that we are conformed to the image of Christ in our attitudes, words and actions by the Holy Spirit moving in us through faith to make us more Christ-like. It is putting the "walk" to our "talk."
I went through a time in my life where everything was just hard. I was recovering from back surgery, a recovering victim of domestic violence, had just kicked my abusive ex-husband out, and was filing the separation/divorce papers -- and that was just in the months of February and March! Suddenly I found myself a single mom of two small children, an autistic ten-year-old and a seven-year-old with severe ADHD. Despite all these painful things, the Lord was using these circumstances to pull me closer to Him. I prayed one night, "Lord, I don't know what You want me to learn from all this, but please use it to Your glory, and teach me what You want me to learn."
Much like Jacob in Genesis, I had been living outside of the Promised Land far too long. I needed to bury my "gods" -- anything in my life that drew my attention away from Jesus or did not encourage me in the faith -- under the nearest tree and never look back. New Christians, renewed Christians, Christians coming back to the faith -- we all need to look forward to Christ and not look back.
But how does one do that? It's not like you're going to go bury everything in your house outside under a tree, right?
Perhaps.
With leading from God, and help from church friends, my house was literally cleaned and painted, removing all evidence of pain, violence and non-God-liness from every wall. I cleaned closets out and trashed whatever reminded me of my past life, a life where God was not at the center.
On fancy paper and using decals, I printed out Scripture verses that had special meaning, framed them and hung them on my walls. I surrounded my boys and myself with the Word of God. Phillipians 4:8 came alive for us: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" became our mantra. I erased all the secular, non-Godly stations from the radio memory buttons and programmed in Christian stations that encouraged and taught my boys and I in the faith. For me, being in the Charlotte, NC, area -- I was blessed to have two: New Life 91.9 and my personal favorite, 106.9 The Light, both also available online.
Its critically important to rid yourself of everything that reminds you or tempts you in the life you had without Christ -- music, books, beliefs, even people who are not good, Godly influences -- at the same time being deliberate about surrounding yourself with things, music, people and places that lift up Christ and encourage you in the walk of faith. To say you are a follower of Christ then to surround yourself with the reminders of your past life without Him is not walking the talk -- and it kills your witness and darkens the Light of Christ which is put there to lead others to Him.
Bury your gods.
~ Terrie
(c) 2013 Terrie McKee
