Intrusions, Part One

Romans 3

If you question your depravity, check your attitude toward intrusions. Having a French origin, “intrude” emerges from two terms, meaning “to thrust in.” An intrusion, therefore, is someone or something that thrusts itself into our world without permission, without an invitation, and refuses to be ignored.

Like the constant needs and demands of a child. I watched a young mother in a waiting room just last week. She was pregnant and had a toddler, plus one in diapers in her arms. Was she busy! Yet with incredible patience, that mother hung in there. Her whole world is one gigantic intrusion, I thought. I sure hope she’s got a husband who understands . . . and helps her out!

I also wondered if that young mother realized that she was modeling an unforgettable display of Christ’s message. Remember His words in Matthew 18:1–6? He flatly declares that receiving children is tantamount to receiving Him. Obviously, He believes they are worth it all, no matter how many intrusions they cause.

Not all agree. A syndicated columnist based in Chicago mentioned one such person in an article. He tells of meeting a smartly dressed twenty-seven-year-old woman about to be married to a man who had a five-year-old son by a previous marriage. Her attitude toward the boy?

“If I had $10,000 I would have the boy killed . . . . I’ve asked around and $10,000 is about what it costs to hire someone to kill someone else.”

Thinking she might be trying to shock him with a sick joke, the columnist told her that her alleged humor was way off base.

“It’s not a joke,” she said. “I want him dead.”

When he asked her why she was saying those things, it boiled down to intrusions. “The boy disrupts my life.”

The columnist assumed that this was only a vicious fantasy. She really didn’t have $10,000, did she? “No,” she sighed, “I don’t have the $10,000.” But as she turned to leave, she added, “But I won’t always not have the $10,000!”

Can you imagine the treatment she will give that bright, busy five-year-old boy?

Intrusions prove what the Bible has taught for centuries. Depravity is a universal disease . . . because sin has “thrust itself in.”

Because sin “thrust itself in,” God sent His Son into the world.

Taken from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. www.thomasnelson.com

Posted in Sin and tagged .

Accuracy, clarity, and practicality all describe the Bible-teaching ministry of Charles R. Swindoll. Chuck is the chairman of the board at Insight for Living and the chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary. Chuck also serves as the senior pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, where he is able to do what he loves most—teach the Bible to willing hearts. His focus on practical Bible application has been heard on the Insight for Living radio broadcast since 1979.

ఖచ్చితత్వం, స్పష్టత మరియు ఆచరణాత్మకత అన్నీ చార్లెస్ ఆర్. స్విన్డాల్ యొక్క బైబిల్-బోధనా పరిచర్యను వివరిస్తాయి. చక్ ఇన్సైట్ ఫర్ లివింగ్ కు బోర్డు ఛైర్మన్ మరియు డల్లాస్ థియోలాజికల్ సెమినరీకి ఛాన్సలర్. చక్ టెక్సాస్‌లోని ఫ్రిస్కోలోని స్టోన్‌బ్రయర్ కమ్యూనిటీ చర్చ్ యొక్క సీనియర్ పాస్టర్‌గా కూడా పనిచేస్తున్నారు, అక్కడ ఆయన చాలా ఇష్టపడేదాన్ని చేయగలుగుతున్నాడు-ఇష్టపడే హృదయాలకు బైబిల్ నేర్పిస్తున్నారు. ఆచరణాత్మక బైబిల్ అనువర్తనంపై ఆయన దృష్టి 1979 నుండి ఇన్సైట్ ఫర్ లివింగ్ రేడియో ప్రసారంలో వినబడుచున్నది.