In the midst of a little fear from school regarding grades and financial aid, I thought I'd write a blog to help me relax a little, just thinking about the omnipotent one. I'm in an empty classroom. Perfect :)
I was reading a book I got from the Resolved conference, and it talked about our conscience, and what it is. John MacArthur wrote in his book, The Vanishing Conscience, that our consciousness is like a skylight. It's not the source of light, but rather, a skylight. What he means is that if we imagine the sky, all bright and filled with clouds, the beautiful scenery can change dramatically once the actual source of light disappears.
Here is how our conscience is like the skylight. The state of the conscience can be altered by changing the source, or the motivation. In the mind, this source is manifested in the form of human thought. When we think, we fuel the conscience... and this has major implications on a lot of things regarding us.
Have you ever been so frustrated, fearful (like me ATM), or sad, that you began to have.... certain thoughts? Certain.. destructive... sinful .. thoughts? These thoughts, although you may be able to hide it within your mind from people to see/hear, we know that God sees these thoughts. However, MacArthur's point was that these thoughts influence the state of our conscience directly. Though people don't see what we think, and though God usually doesn't give a visibly and audibly clear sign stopping us from thinking such thoughts, you can be sure that something inside you is changing.
Remember how when you guys first encountered alcohol in high school, or for the first time you had to lie to your parents about your grades.... you had a feeling deep inside that gave you great discomfort and uneasiness? MacArthur describes such feelings of inhibition a warning sign from our conscience telling us to be very wary and alert of what we are about to do next. Sinful thoughts are the primary means by which our conscience is weakened. People with a weak conscience have no problem committing sin, because they have, by their sinful thoughts, completely and utterly silenced the what was once a loud and booming conscience. We are all sinful people, however, the state of our conscience is different for all of us. Whether your conscience still speaks loudly to you, or if you have silenced it completely, we can all be sure that once we meet God, even the ones that forgot they had a conscience will realize that it was with him/her all along, when fear strikes them like a really well placed punch to the face.
I learned from the book that our consciousness, if anything, is one of the greatest and most honest part of us. It reflects exactly who we are because our thoughts and motives change it within us. It shed light to another great weakness of mine... that I may indeed have a frail and quiet conscience, and that I need to pray that God helps me be pure. Pure in my thoughts, my actions, and therefore, in my conscience.
Anyway, OChem lab is about to begin in 8 minutes. Time to go, but I am definitely more at peace. Till next time!
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OK I am done with lab. Great lab session by the way :) before I post, I wanted to quote some things from the book. Here it goes!
"Seeing that sin is so sinful, it is evil even to be a thinking sinner, or a sinner though only in thought. It is too commonly said that thoughts are free. They are indeed free in respect of men, who cannot judge us for them, but God can and will. Many people who seem to be modest and sparing as to evil words and deeds will still make bold with thoughts and, as the saying is, pay it with thinking. Such are speculative, contemplative sinners." - Ralph Venning
"No sin is more destructive to the conscience than the sin that takes place in the arena of the mind... Sow a thought, reap an act. Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny." - John MacArthur
-DK
