Purity..it's not just for girls...

I love all the face book post, songs, etc about fathers cleaning their guns and such when a boy comes calling for their daughter.  I feel quite sure that my husband will enjoy tormenting some boy that exact way when my daughter is older.  But for now, I have a 17 year old son.  I care about his purity as much as any father cares for his daughter's.  I have always been perplexed by this weird double standard that exists.  If a teen age girl gets pregnant, she is called ugly names...but the boy is high-fived? Why is that?  How can we expect our girls to remain pure if we are patting our boys on the back with a "wink, wink" attitude as they leave for the prom?

I may not be sitting on the front porch cleaning a gun when my son and his girl leaves for a date, but believe you me, I am paying attention.  And I am going to be asking lots of questions of said girl...like..where do you go to church?  Where do you go to school?  What do your parents do? Where do you live?  Do your parents know where the two of you are going?  And if their destination is her home, you can better bet that I will be calling her parents as well.  And speaking of her parents..if said girl appears at my home several times, I will also be asking to meet them.  Why would I do that?  Because I want them to know that when they are in my home, they will spend time in my living room, not off behind closed doors.  I want them to know that I am also concerned with their daughters purity. 

I want God to bless the relationships that my children have, and I know that He will not do that when they are doing things out side of His plan for them. I want to give them boundaries that will help them take steps in the right direction. I know that even the best of teens, with the best of intentions can fall prey when left to their own devices. 

So, I imagine that if by chance my son, James, is reading this..he is mortified...but James if you are reading this, I love you with a love you will not understand until the day you hold your first born.  I pray even today for the women who will some day be your wife, and I pray that your decisions now only honor that future relationship....

Pondering.....

Deceived

So, as I am driving home to visit family I listen to a radio station till it runs out, then find another.  I typically listen to Christian music while driving at home, but am (usually) happy to take what I can get to come in clear while traveling.

Inevitability I will hear a song that brings back a flash, some times a head to toe remembrance of an experience from another time.  And can I be honest? Some of those lyrics resonate with my fleshly nature, or dare I say heart...

And why is that?  I am a saved, born again, all things made new, child of God.  How is it that I can still be caught off guard by those moments?  Our former Pastor, Bro Greg used to say, "You can't stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep it from making a nest in your hair." And while some songs are straight vulgarity, others are not in and of themselves evil, but written by someone with a hurt heart...searching...

On the flip side, while I might get swept away for a brief moment, I can now quickly remember the shallowness of those times that I thought were fun..the consequences...even the not so immediate ones.  I was deceived then..with every breath I took. 

Dictionary.com says:  deceive  verb
                                1.  to mislead by a false appreance or statemnet, delude
                                4.  to mislead or falsely persuade others; practice deceit: an engaging manner
                                     that easily deceives

My point is this...deception can be all encompassing. I think we lose sight of that as believers. I believe in absolute truth.  But a deceived person can not see it. A wise "Church Mama" once told me that we can not be mad when the blind stumble, they can not see.  The think black fog of deception is present with every breath, every blink of the eye, and nothing but the light of Truth can penetrate it.  So let us remember that as we seek to love on the lost.

Point #2 is that we must still guard our eyes, ears, and minds from the things that linger to catch us in the snare again ....

Pondering....