“For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.”
Deuteronomy 14:2
Time is finally up and in a couple of days I’ll officially be a college freshman. My school’s official Facebook page has been blowing up with posts of excitement and anticipation. The buzz has been about who’s bringing the keg, passing our online questionnaire about drug use, showing each other up with the latest dance moves, and trying to see if corny pick up lines actually work. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just as thrilled as the rest of them are; however, I know that my expectations don’t really match up with many of theirs.
As a follower of Christ, I don’t drink, I don’t do drugs, and I won’t be having sex before I’m married. Now, as I re-read my previous statement, I understand how unorthodox it may be, especially because the world we live in greatly embraces all three acts. It’s normal for young people to have their first hangover before the age of 16, walk around on a high all hours of the day, and wake up in a strange bed, more than a couple of times. However, to me, it’s all still foreign and it used to make me feel like a freak.
My Sunday school teachers taught me to think of the difference between the Godly and the ungodly as a fine line. I remember when approval from the world was the most important thing to me, but at the same time I still wanted to make it to heaven, so I kept one foot on both sides of that line, basically straddling the fence. I would blast rap songs that had no curse words, I’d consider communion wine as a taste of alcohol, I’d hang out with dope fiends but refuse their handouts, and I would twist the truth, telling the other girls I was just waiting for the right one. The Bible says “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8) and that’s exactly what I was. After truly looking at myself in the mirror, I made the choice to follow God and live by the laws He has laid out no matter the social repercussions, which brings me to the scripture above.
I embrace the phrase “peculiar people”. I am proud to say that I am DIFFERENT! Followers of Christ were meant to be. We were meant to make the world like us, not let the world make us like it. I understand that there’s a lot of peer pressure to do what everyone else is doing, go where everyone else is going, and say what everyone else is saying, and I know it isn’t easy but we have to get to the place where Jesus was when they talked about Him and be able to say ‘who cares?’ Everyone claims to be unique but only followers of Christ truly are. It goes farther than just standing on the side lines at a club, boldly refusing a drink, passing during a night of “puff puff”, or stopping before things go too far. It’s never accepting the invitation, it’s asking your peers to stay sober, refusing to breath in secondhand smoke, and not even stepping into the bedroom. We were meant to “STAND OUT”, as Tye Tribbett would say, and that’s what we need to do so we can bring people in the world out of it. The most important witness is your life. We can’t only say no to the devil, we have to show him what it means.
#nuffsaid
