About Face!

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 - About Face!

This one phrase just keeps jumping out at me. Paul talks about turning to God from idols, and that is a great picture of salvation. All of us, whether we want to admit it or not, are idol-worshippers before we get saved. We may have never bowed down to a statue, but we did give our hearts, our time, our money, and our energy to those things that called our hearts away from God. Family, education, career, hobbies, sports, drugs, sex – anything that takes us in the wrong direction (away from God) becomes an idol.

Notice what Paul says: turn to God from idols. Lots of people start to get convicted of their sin and decide to change their lives, so they turn away from their idols. But they fail to turn to God. Others start to feel convicted and decide to change their lives, so they turn to God. They start going to church, but sadly, they try to hold onto their idols. Both choices are bad choices, and they leave you spiritually vulnerable because no matter how hard you try, you cannot change your life on your own and you cannot partially get right with God. Too often, those who try to do this find themselves worshipping the same idols again. Jesus talked about this in terms of evil spirits. You may cast them out, but if the space in your life which they occupied isn’t filled with God’s Spirit, other evils will take their place.

Here’s the key. Repentance means “about face!” It is a 180 degree turn in the opposite direction – away from sin and towards God who forgives us our sin and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. He fills us with His love and grace, and that prevents the evil one from taking control again. So what are you battling today? Addiction? Immorality? Bitterness? Hatred? Anger? Lust? Pornography? Whatever it is, you must make a conscious decision to turn away from it and turn to God in absolute surrender to His will. When you do, He will break the chains that bind you and set you free! I promise! But more importantly, He promises!