Living As Guests Of God

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Driving up to the mansion seemed quite grand. The turrets bathed in the bright sunlight - windows glistened sending wild cascades of light over the pastures. The driveway was, well, elegant to say the least. But immediately Bernard sensed something was wrong. The hedges and shrubs had obviously been groomed and cared for, once, but now wild new growth was taking over.

He was quite looking forward to meeting and interviewing Lord Bloomsberry as he was well known for his generosity and great political influence and power.

Bernard glanced to the right and there screaming across the once well groomed lawn was the Bentley – standing up through the sunroof was a maid waving and cheering, obviously drunk and the car was being driven by a seemingly demented lad who was heading straight for the duckpond. He would need to swerve. He didn’t. The car landed with an incredible splash. Ducks screeched, scattered and flew in all directions a swan floated injured on the surface and the maid angry at being wet started yelling at the driver.

Strange, thought Bernard as he knocked on the Manors door the bell was out of order two wires announced where it had once been mounted.

A horse galloped past behind him riderless – Bernard looked over to the stables and was surprised to see a beautiful thoroughbred being butchered for it’s meat.

No-one answered so he pushed the already opened door.

A party was underway and it had obviously been going for quite some time. Days probably. All manner of things were going on- his attention was caught by a butler snorting drugs off the coffee table. Excuse me shouted Bernard above the sound of some terrible music can I see Lord Bloomsberry!

“Don’t you worry about him!” mumbled the drugged Butler – He ain't comin back anytime soon ‘es gone to Australia for the winter.

“Oh no!” said Bernard. “I have an appointment here with him this afternoon – His Aunty died suddenly and I am to meet him here today to interview him about her life for the Guardian. If he isn’t home now he will be home soon. I will just wait here if it is OK.” Bernard sat in one of the few chairs that was both upright and intact.

The people in the room looked at Bernard in shock. Slowly the news filtered through their dulled minds, as if motivated by some divine bell they panicked simultaneously running around the room trying to regain some sense of order. Before they had even started –a taxi was heard pulling up at the door – The master was home.

As the staff realised it was too late they ran to hide as the voice of Lord Bloomsberry boomed into the room. “What on earth have you done to my estate?”

To come into a topsy turvey world like this and to know how to live in accordance with the real house rules and in the spirit of the mansion would require a completely different script.

This is the situation that the Christian finds themselves in in the modern world.

We have the script written by the Lord – not of the mansion but the earth and it doesn’t appear to being regarded – in fact hardly at all.

In such a world – if you tried to live by the house rules you would expect opposition. In the world we live in we can expect opposition when we try to put the chairs upright.

Charles W. Colson in his incredible book How Now Shall We Live? Makes this profound statement:-

“Christians who understand biblical truth and have the courage to live it out can indeed redeem a culture, or even create one. This is the challenge facing all of us in the new millennium.”

? Charles W. Colson, How Now Shall We Live?

Imagine a staff member in the house trying to restore order while everyone else ran wild.

The Apostle John once wrote1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

We live in God’s world and even though the standards of the master are broken and ignored by a majority - we are called to live by the will of God.

How then shall we live?

This can well be the question that John or Jane Christian may well ask in such a confusing world. I believe that we find key helps from the scripture that teaches us to live in a world gone mad.