The greatest thing about the Christian life for me (in the here and now) is peace.  Yes, there is eternity, and life everlasting, but for now, peace.  I no longer worry about death--it will come along someday for all of us.  But for the Christian, the fear is gone--of facing God with the things we have done wrong.  Jesus covers it all.  He is our reconciler.  He will step between God and me, and every Christian who has ever lived, and declare that our penalty is paid.  This is the greatest gift that has ever been given.  Peace with God through the death of Jesus on the cross--our sacrifice for sin.

People don't talk about sin anymore.  They say they made a bad choice.  Or that they didn't do as good as they should have done.  Or they forgot for a moment what they were doing.  I've even heard people say that they weren't responsible for what they did because they were drunk.  Duh.

Anyway, God calls it all sin.  Missing the mark of the high calling...

As if that problem in our lives wasn't enough, James throws us a curveball.  He says, "To him who knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin." James 4:17.  Just when you think you are on your way to being done with things you shouldn't do, you find that there is more.  You have to do things that you should do.

Which usually involves giving to those who need something.  Which is always either money or time. 

I have a harder time giving up my time, than my money.  And it gets more difficult as I grow older because giving time usually means leaving the house--which means getting dressed in something other than sweats.

The other possibility for "not doing" things you should do concerns "work."  You waste time that you should be using to get the things done that need to be done.  Dishes, laundry, mowing, etc., etc...

God expects us to be different.  Like I said yesterday, "lights."  A visible light to the world.  Obvious to the world around us because we behave in a different way.  We stop doing things we shouldn't and start doing things we should.