My Affections

I have been reading some devotional classics and came across a few thoughts by Jonathon Edwards (1703-1758). In the excerpts from ‘Religious Affections’ he mentioned how “the work of religion has been compared to the doing of exercise”. Metaphors like ‘running the race,’ ‘wrestling with God,’ ‘striving for the great prize,’ and ‘fight the good fight’ are often used in describing the exercises we engage in.” He went on to say how “babes in Christ” aren’t used to exercising their faith. But the spirit of God gives us the strength to overcome these weaknesses.

“Our inclination is to be inactive unless we are influenced by some affection: love or hatred, desire or hope, fear etc. These affections are the “spring of action,” the things that set us moving in our lives. If we were to take away these affections, the world would be motionless and dead. There would be no activity.”

I thought about this quite a bit over the past couple of day. What are my “affections?” What motivates me to get up and do things? Without “religious affection” would I do the things I do? Would I be a believer in Christ? Would I have built my life’s foundation on the belief that he was the son of God, lived a sinless life, died a cruel death, rose again 3 days later, and now lives? Would I have a hope of a life beyond this one and spend it with Jesus and with God? If I didn’t have a religious “affection,” would I lie, cheat, steal, rob banks, rip the tags off of mattresses? Would I curse? Cheat on my taxes? How would my life be different if I didn’t have a religious affection, or a belief in God?

Would I be the person I am today?

What about my children?

How would things be different?