2003-09-19 - Have You Taken Leave of Your Senses?

I'm not sure if it's a Southern phrase or just an American one, but I have often heard people ask "have you taken leave of your senses" when someone does something of bad judgment, or that doesn't seem to make sense. I think that happens to us sometimes in our Christian walk, too. We take leave of our "senses."

Have you lost your sense of sin? Do you find yourself "tolerant" of things that you wouldn't have tolerated a few years ago, or early in your walk as a Christian? (See Romans 1:21-32.) I don't mean we should be legalistic. Our Lord spent a lot of time combatting that, and I don't ever want to promote it! Not which music to sing on Sunday morning or what to wear. No, I'm talking about things that are clearly right and wrong, according to God's word. For example, do you find you are so used to hearing God's name taken in vain, that you no longer find it so offensive? When you hear about a Christian couple having sexual relations before marriage, do you think of it as normal, rather than something that grieves the Holy Spirit because it's not His best for us? When a young friend confides that he or she has cheated in school (as the majority in a recent poll did), do you just laugh that they got away with it, rather than being saddened by the dishonesty and lack of integrity? (And think about it-do you want to be worked on by a doctor or nurse who cheated in their studies?)

If so, pray that God will sensitize you anew to sin, that you will be in tune with the Holy Spirit's urges.

Have you lost your sense of wonder? Do you take your eternal salvation for granted? Do you think nonchalantly about the miracle that is sight or hearing, or the love of family and friends? Are you blase about the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains or a newly hatched fledgling?

If you are, ask God to give you the eyes of a child, to appreciate all his wonderful gifts to us.

If you have taken leave of your senses, reclaim them today!

Jan

 jan@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org