Convict
“convict”…a person found guilty of a criminal offense and serving a sentence of imprisonment. “conviction”…a firmly held belief or opinion. It’s my experience, a man/woman without convictions, more than likely, becomes a convict. Without a moral compass, our course will be all over the place … direction will be wherever the wind blows or based on popular opinion. I can remember vividly, watching and listening to older kids that seemed to have life by the short hairs, and some of the things i heard come out of their mouths…some of the things i saw them doing, just didn’t “feel right”…but i chose to participate anyway because i wanted to “fit in”. Of course, i suffered the consequences of my actions and still live with the scars…most in my memory…and it was the result of my compromising my convictions or just not having any to start with. Aaron Tippin wrote a song a good while back that said, “ You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.” If that ain’t some truth, i don’t know what is ! There’s no limit of people that are willing to sell us something … it’s up to us whether we buy it / buy into it or not. God implants something inside each one of us at birth…it’s called a “conscience”. It’s that moral compass that always reads “true north”… ( just picture heaven ) … which oughta be our heart’s destination each and every day. Our journey along the way is gonna be fraught with many temptations, trials and hardships…but that shouldn’t stop us from carrying out our duties unto God, family and country. We have responsibilities and obligations that require us to be vigilant…to adhere to certain prescribed standards of living ( God’s Word ) and to hold firmly to our convictions. That’s why it’s crucial that those convictions are God-centered, God-prescribed and God-glorifying ! Anything contrary to the truth, is a lie born of Satan. His desire is to see us fail…to see our marriages fall apart…to see us raising kids that never follow Christ…to cause chaos in all our relationships…and to keep brothers and sisters in Christ bickering, back-biting and bowing to the ways of this world. He knows if he can get a foothold, he stands a chance of redirecting any prior convictions that may’ve caused him to “lose another one.” If all we’re doing is listening to the word but not doing what it says, we’re like a man/woman who looks at themselves in a mirror, walks away, and immediately forgets what they look like ( James 1:23-24 ). Sounds silly; doesn’t it ? But, if we don’t hold to the convictions of the Lord…or we don’t set them as our “true North”…we might as well get ready for some sure-nuff pain, heartache and suffering ! “Blessed are those who don’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful.” ( Psalm 1:1 ) It ain’t too hard to get “off track”, but to stay there or keep going there will be the stupidest thing we’ll ever do ! So what’ll it be for you … conviction leading to correction and righteousness … or … just plain ol’ convict ?