Many if indeed not all of us have heard the allegorical story of the frog and the boiling pot of water. If a person puts a frog in an already boiling pot, the frog will react suddenly and leap to relative safety. If the frog is placed into a cool pot, however, he will swim contentedly even as the heat is slowly increased by degrees. By the time the heat reaches critical levels for his well-being, he will have been dulled in his senses by the warmth and calm of the water and the effect will eventually overwhelm him, leaving him at the mercy of the imminent and sure-to-arrive boiling point.
God has chosen whom He has chosen, and shown mercy to whom He has shown mercy. Those that are His "know (His) voice, and they follow (Him)". They are called to be IN the world, but not OF the world, that is, not representing the ideals and attitudes of the world, but rather those of the Kingdom of God.
It is the slow, deliberate and cunning infiltration by Satan of the ranks of those who claim to be Christians that has weakened and, in some cases, destroyed the effectiveness of the witness to the Gospel in our modern society. Jerusalem, the "City Of Peace", has "become a harlot". The Word tells us that the faithful city (the city that is comprised of God's faithful remnant) has been enticed into lifestyles and choices that belie her position as God's chosen and chaste Bride.
Can we begin to claim that we offer, in Jesus' Name, a taste of the table of the Lord when we so readily and publicly are constantly tasting from the spotted and unclean banquet spread out on the "table of devils"? Have the praises of Him Who called us been drowned out by the hours of conversations we engage in concerning the delights of this world?
Imagine the form of film-making called cinema-verite, or "true film". This manner of producing a film is accomplished by simply letting the camera roll and capturing the unadulterated and pure emotions and attitudes and actions of the person or people involved. There is no editing done, neither is there any deleting of anything that is even a bit detrimental to the audience's perception of the story or the characters. Let us now imagine that a camera has been trained upon us... What manner of cinema-verite would we produce? What attitudes and actions would serve to paint the picture that the world would see on the screen? Have we been granted such a vision of the holiness of God that the film would show us desperately and wholly undone in His presence? Would the film show instead our constant and effusive lip-service to God and our play-acting in His Name part of the time while also clearly reproducing our sinful and vain dabblings in the pursuits of this world the rest of the time?
Father in Heaven, grant that we, who have been called of Thee by Thy grace, might no more walk according to the pattern of this world. Grant that we might instead be spent and exhausted in our pursuit of holiness and the circumspection of this world's attitudes, as Thy Spirit leads and guides us. Strengthen us in Thy might, so that we might daily cast off the affections of the old man and all its lusts, and instead be clothed in the new man, Christ Jesus, and His righteousness. Work by Thy power, O Lord, to make the image of Thine only-begotten Son more clearly manifested in us. This we ask for the sake of Thy glory in Jesus' Name. Amen.