Don’t Co-exist With What Christ Conquered

We’ve all seen the bumper sticker that says, “Co-Exist.”  But there are some things that simply cannot coexist.

• Trust and lies do not mix
• Love and hate cannot build a relationship
• Peace and strife will never function together

 
The house that Wisdom builds does not coexist with defeat – it resists it. Proverbs 14:16 says,  “The wise are cautious and avoid danger; fools plunge ahead with reckless confidence.”
 
Departure is not coexistence.  Proverbs 25:26 warns, “Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.”

When righteousness gives way, clarity become contaminated.  Toleration often disguises itself as peacekeeping.  But Proverbs is clear:  There is a difference between preserving peace and compromising truth.   James 4:7 tells us, “Submit ourselves to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  
 
Resist means to actively oppose, not quietly endure.  There is a difference between walking through a battle and settling into one.  We all face seasons, we all fight the good fight of faith.  But somewhere along the way, many believers have shifted from resisting to coping….. from standing to adjusting…… from fighting to managing.
 
Tolerating can sound spiritual, but if Jesus bore it, defeat it and gave us authority over it, why would we make peace with it?  Wisdom builds a house that enforces covenant rights.  Wisdom contends, it never surrenders ground.  Proverbs 28:4
 

• Isaiah 53:4–5 — He bore our sickness and carried our pain.
• II Timothy 1:7 — We were not given a spirit of fear.
• John 16:33 — Jesus has overcome the world.

 
The question is not whether Christ conquered, the question is... "are coexisting with what He defeated?"
 
Reflection:  Have I slowly given way where I once stood firmly?

Building With Wisdom,
Pastor Sheila