Semper Fi

"Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" - Hebrews 12:1

I got my oil changed today.  While I was sitting in my truck - I noticed a young man working. He had a short haircut - I will call it a high and tight, military cut and wore a web belt that was clearly had been part of a military uniform. When they finished the oil change, I asked him if he had served in the military. He told me he had, 4 years in the Marine Corps.  We chatted for a few minutes, I told him essentially that you can take the man or woman out of the military, but you can't take the military out of them. As I rolled up my window I said "Semper Fi" and he said, "thank you". And I drove off.  

Semper Fi is short for Semper Fidelis which means Always Faithful. There is a saying, "once a Marine, always a Marine!" It is in the heart. Just like with that young man.  Always faithful, "Am I?", I wondered as I drove away. Can people see Jesus in me like I saw the influence of the military in that young man? Oh, I hope so. 

There is so much opportunity to be unfaithful toward God. The ten commandments speak to being faithful to God - not having any other loves the came before Him. 

"You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." - Exodus 20:3-6

God expects us to be faithful and not live an adulterous life. Loving the world more than we love Him. 

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." - 1 John 2:15

Being faithful is being full of faith in God - devoted to Him having abandoned our affection for the world. We need to be so careful. Being a Christian is more than having a short haircut and wearing a belt from a military uniform or having a WWJD bracelet or a cross on a necklace. It's who you are on the inside that God sees. It is the reflection of Jesus on the outside that the world needs to see.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone