When God said, “I will never leave or forsake you,” guess what? He meant it. I find that even when I’m on vacation, God isn’t.
A few months ago, I was visiting the beach and while basking in the warm fall sun, I suddenly found myself in God’s classroom. The object lesson that day was not one I would have chosen. It involved a very middle-aged lady wearing a thong bikini. Maybe a microscopic percentage of females across the universe might be able to wear one of these string-like swimsuits without eliciting disgust, pity or outrage, but this lady was not a member of that elite group. And even if a woman can wear one, that doesn’t mean she should, in fact, wear one.
And that is the important life principle I was reminded of that day: Even if I CAN, it doesn’t mean I SHOULD. When it comes to bikinis, I can’t, I shouldn’t and I won’t … and believe me, I’m doing us all a big, big favor. But there are countless other applications, as well. Just because I have the freedom to say what I want, eat what I want and push my credit cards to the limit, it doesn’t mean I should. A thousand and one destructive behaviors might be legal, but that doesn’t make them wise.
The Apostle Paul understood this principle when he wrote in 1 Corinthian 6:12: “Everything is permissible for me –but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me — but I will not be mastered by anything.”
He also wrote, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13)
God wants us to be free, but true freedom is found within the wise, loving boundaries He places around our lives. Ask Adam and Eve – God told them they were allowed to eat from ANY tree in the perfect Garden of Eden … any tree, that is, except one. God knew that the fruit from that one tree would open man’s eyes to things he would later desperately wish he couldn’t see. But God gave Adam and Eve freedom to choose. They knew they COULD eat the forbidden fruit, so they did, and their rebellion against God’s loving boundary brought death, destruction and bondage.
I’ll say it again: Just because we CAN, it doesn’t mean we SHOULD. Are there destructive things you are doing just because you CAN do them? Bad choices, bad habits, bad relationships? Maybe it’s time to take inventory, to make sure that your choices are bringing life to you and to everyone in your world. Maybe it’s time to check your closet and throw out any thong bikinis you find in there.
And hey – I’ve got an object lesson for you men, too: Friends of ours were missionaries in an Eastern European country where, they said, some men liked to mow their lawns dressed only in tiny Speedo swimsuits and black socks and shoes. There’s a mental image that begs to be purged from my brain, but nevertheless prompts me to emphatically say one final time: Just because we CAN, it doesn’t mean we SHOULD.