Central Abbotsford

The computer room at our home (in which I am writing this newsletter blurb) has become something of the “junk drawer” of our house. In addition to the computer and bookshelves, the room has also acquired a piano (that functions more like a bookshelf given my lack of musical aptitude), several boxes of outgrown clothes to be donated, a laundry drying rack, a half-completed puzzle, a box of my childhood report cards (for some reason), and, seemingly hundreds and hundreds of varied cords.

One day (Lord willing) I will clean up this room. But for today’s purposes, I’d like to focus on the cords. I am not kidding about the number of them. We have a charging station in the corner of the room that is fully stocked with cords in active use. Underneath them are some more cords that get used occasionally. There are a few more cords scattered between the charger and my desk. On my desk, I count four cords (two of which are actively in use). This doesn’t even get into the number of adapters and dongles scattered about. 

If I open the top drawer of my desk, there are more cords. It looks like a nest of snakes with headphones, printer cables, USB cords, and AC adapters huddled together for warmth in the winter. If I try to pull one out the entire contents of the drawer are likely to end up on the floor.

Here’s the thing: I know the purpose of some of these cords – maybe about half of them. But others are just residual. Charging cords for an electronic toy that broke years ago. An adapter cord that allows a camera that I no longer have to connect to a computer that has been obsolete for a decade. An ethernet cable that I haven’t needed since wi-fi became a thing. Maybe they once served a purpose, but now they are just in the way.

For Christians, something similar happens. Whether you have recently accepted Christ and find yourself wondering what to do with the various things you have been doing in life in this point, or whether you have long followed Him and are living out the gradual growing in holiness and righteousness that is sanctification, there are likely to be patterns and behaviours in your life that you need to stop and periodically ask whether they are drawing you closer to Him, or getting in the way.

Ephesians 4 tells us that those who have heard about Christ and learned the truth of Him are called to put off the old self and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 

We may have had seemingly good reasons to exhibit some of the behaviours of the “old self” in our life. Our jobs may have required careful oversight of others and attention to detail, which could effectively be maintained through leadership with a tight fist and a short fuse. A genuine interest in the lives of others may make you privy to their personal information that too easily becomes the subject of gossip. There are likely others. These cords that were once useful now become a tangled mess, needing to be set aside.

Those who have new life in Christ must seek His strength to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which He has called us. Sanctification is by grace through faith, just as justification before the Father is – but it requires us to actively and daily seek His grace, often by putting to death the old self; by throwing out those useless cords (even if we think they might come in handy some day down the line!).

It is not necessarily an easy task, which is why we have been given the community of the church. As Paul writes in Ephesians 4:15-16: “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” We cannot and should not do this alone. He has given us so much more in His church.

You are all a part of this church. Enjoy one another. Learn about one another. Learn to love one another. The opportunity will arise where you can help your brother or sister clear out the old cords that so easily ensnare, and walk in the manner worthy of your calling.

The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

– 2 Samuel 22:6

The LORD is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked.

– Psalm 129:4