This morning as I started my car, still half asleep, I was jolted by the sound of music. KLOVE was back! For the first time in over a year, I had a car radio. Honda had outsmarted me and my attempts to get a 6 digit code needed to rest the radio/CD player in my car but they couldn’t outsmart my brother-in-law. During the 2 hour drive to the airport this past weekend he managed to unlock the code that had been tormenting me for so long and he did it with such ease. In my pursuit to find this valuable code, I removed the console of my car, climbed in the trunk to look behind the inside panel, called Honda numerous times, and entered many codes I had found or had been told would unlock my radio. All of these attempts yielded no success and added to my frustration at the inability to fix something so small. During the 16 months that I was radio less, I compromised and listened to my IPOD or listened to Pandora on my phone to make my drives more enjoyable and more tolerable. Although this was better than complete silence, I got tired of the monotony of my IPOD and annoyed when I would lose cell phone service causing Pandora to stop working. Today not only was my music uninterrupted and variant but it was uplifting and unpredictable. With my IPOD I knew that there were only so many songs to choose from and with Pandora, I chose the artist I wanted to hear, so again my song choices were limited. This morning, I got more excited with each song that played on my radio and turned up the volume to jam out on my way to school. One of my favorite delights in life, Christian music, was just made better and I couldn’t believe that I had lasted this long without a radio!
In life, we all make compromises and at times they are good compromises but at times they are not so good. How many times have we compromised our relationship with God? How many times have we tried to bargain with our Lord in order to get what we want? Or how many times has our inability to “fix” something led us to a negative compromise? At times, we all get impatient and settle for something less than we deserve but we should never settle for anything when it comes to God. The truth is you can’t compromise God. But you can compromise your life, your faith, you circumstances, your family, your friends, and your needs. God isn’t a negotiator and isn’t interested in making a deal with us. Instead, He is there with His endless grace and forgiveness when we compromise what is most important to us. I made a compromise by using my IPOD and Pandora in place of my radio and was still able to benefit from music. Unfortunately, I have made other compromises in life that didn’t yield any benefits at all. I found myself in a constant bargaining battle until I surrendered myself to God and made the decision to never compromise my relationship with him. When we stand strong in our faith and don’t allow anything to compromise who we are in Christ we stop making deals with life. More importantly, we stop limiting God and stop settling for less than he has to offer. Today not only will my music be uninterrupted and unpredictable but God’s love and blessings in my life will be uninterrupted and unpredictable all because I have chosen not to compromise with Him.
Verse to remember: John 15:16 You did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
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