Blending In

    This is the time of the year when hunters put on their camouflage clothes and head out to the woods in order to go hunting.  i tried to hunt one year and bought a 12 gauge shotgun and about 5 boxes of shells, each box a little different size shot for the multitude of animals I was about to harvest.   I didn't get the usual amount of gear that blends into the woods.  I chose to wear a bright orange hat as to prevent someone else from shooting me.  The camouflage clothing helps them to blend into the bushes and trees.  If they stand still, you can't even tell that they are.  They even go so far as to put on a scent that will disguise them.  They don't want to have anything on that will tell the animals that they are around.  The armies of the world have long used camouflage to keep from being seen by the enemy.  They are deliberately blending in to their surroundings.  Blending is not always the best thing to do.  Take for instance, the church.  It should not blend into the world system.  Unfortunately, that is what has happened in many cases.  The result has been a church that is completely disguised from what it should be.  Second Corinthians 6:16-17 says, "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"
         God has given us instructions to the point that say we should not be blending in with the world as if we were camouflaged, but that we should stand out from the world.  We should be a contrast to the world system.  Many Christians have become more like the world as they do the same things as those who are in the world.  They listen to music that is so like the world that you can't tell the difference.  They read the same books, see the same films and react the same way to worries, problems and frustrations.  The result is that you can't tell the difference between the church and the world.  The simple truth as that the church needs to return to the Bible.  The Scriptures need to be that which is central in its life.  To accomplish this, individuals, that make up the church, need to get their lives straightened out with God.  The bottom line is that the believer needs to be different and needs to be "separate" even as the Apostle Paul said to the church at Corinth.  So, take a look in the mirror and see if you are reflecting That which is Christ like or are you simply blending in to the world system?  Remember!  You have been purchased and you are not your own.  Praise God for His plan of salvation and His plan for daily living.