Second Day of the Year

Following along my theme of "Face the difficulty of being a Christian believer/follower" in 2024, I come to the second. The first was recognize the brokenness of the world system. 

Then, remind yourself that you want to and like to sin. That's what it means to be a "sinner."

I am not talking about "having fun" in ways that are on the edge, depending on your church tradition. I am talking about meanness and selfishness and laziness and impatience . . .  and facing that you're really not a "good person" even when that's your brand. 

In other words, we are sinners, and not just because of something done by someone thousands of years ago. We, individually, choose bad courses of action even when we know better. 

This didn't go away at conversion (sorry; it just took second place and we have more choices and power).  

OK, my little thought for the day may seem very negative, but there is something positive in this. We have to fully accept this before we fully accept grace, and then we are free.  A burden of trying to work hard to impress others or prove something is taken away. Unfortunately, too many Christians are still not free. 

I have been listening to a podcast called "Scamanda." It's addictive; thankfully, it's short, not 80 some episodes like the Russian Revolution one.  

Amanda C. Riley scammed over a $100,000 out of folks in her community and beyond claiming to have cancer and going through a terrible time of it for years and years. She finally was caught and is in prison now. It's a pretty amazing story. 

BUT....

 Amanda's biggest scam victim was her church in San Jose, CA, and all the people convinced she was a devout Christian. She could talk the talk. She was even a principal at a Christian school.  

It's pretty sad that someone besmirched the name of Christ this way.