Aron Ralston has quite a story to tell. Recognize the name? He’s the hiker who cut off his arm to save his life. He gave up one thing to gain another. He traded his limb for his life. He relinquished something unnecessary for something he couldn’t live without.
His arm, or his life. He weighed them in the balance, and his life took precedence.
Do we sometimes give up the wrong things? Now we’re thinking of people who trade their lives for drugs, reckless behavior, or ill-gotten gain. Yes, those people make that choice, and it’s sad to watch their lives swirl down the gutter and into the cesspool of degradation. What about the Christian? Can we remain a Christian and still give up the wrong things? The answer is yes, but only for a time. Eventually we will die spiritually. We will have weighed our salvation in the balance, and it will come up on the short side.
1 Timothy 4:1-5 reveals the pit that Christians can so easily fall into:
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”
Foregoing marriage or certain foods isn’t sinful. Remaining single to devote ourselves to Christ is a good thing. Fasting in the fear of the Lord can work miracles in our lives. Let’s not discount the millions of Saints who have brought greater good to those around them by these two sacrifices.
So, what problem is Paul describing in this revealing passage? If these are good things, why does he suggest they can divide us from Christ?
Let’s look at the first part of his statement:
“…some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared…”
What divides us from Christ is following after someone or something other than Christ. It’s not what we do that gets us to heaven. It’s where we place our trust, and it must be in Jesus and his eternal Father.
How does the greatest apostle in all Christendom phrase it?
“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving…”
Aron Ralston made the only choice he could to save his life. The believer’s only choice is Christ, for he is the salvation of the world, and in him we are rescued from the cesspool of sin.
Christ is the door, and only he can be our bridge to spiritual success in this life.
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