Falling Away

Today's reading contains many warnings about falling away from the faith. It is strange to think that anyone would fall away at all but we see it happen all the time. People fall away for many reasons. Family or personal problems, work schedules, internal conflicts at church, laziness, pride, bitterness, stress, Sunday afternoon football, and thousands of other reasons pull us away from our faith. Why? Simply put, I believe much of it has to do with what we value. More specifically, it is our lack of values in the modern world. The fact is that what we value shapes and directs our lives and it seems that the values of people today change with the seasons. Many seem to go through a time in their lives where they value faith, church, and a personal relationship with God. But then, for one of a million different reasons, that value is replaced by something else at the top of the list. It is a slippery slope to be sure when faith moves to the second most important value in your life. It is never long before it is replaced at number 2, and pushed to number 3. Then it moves down to number 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and so on. Before you know it your faith has moved so far down the list you only practice it a few times a year on special holidays, why? Because you no longer value your faith.
This is not a new problem, it has existed since the first century as those believers who were once so faithful began to fall away. I suspect from the descriptions of why in the Bible, then as now, it had a great deal to do with values. As a new year approaches I would like to challenge you to examine your values. Don't put them in the order you want them to be in, until you have been honest enough to see what order your current actions prove they are in.

May you all be blessed and have a very Merry Christmas this week!!!
Pastor Pete