WHAT IS THE DEFAULT POSITION OF YOUR LIFE?

Computers are a very important part of our lives. We use them in our employment, in the necessary tasks of taking care of our personal affairs, in our social interactions with other people and a variety of other ways. The computers we use come with built in original factory settings. These settings are the default positions that computers revert back to when they are at rest. They can be changed but unless you make any change permanent, the computer will automatically revert back to the original default position.

We have default positions in our lives. These are the places our minds and hearts occupy before we react to situations or make conscious choices. They are developed over the course of our lives. These default positions are revelations of the natural content of our minds and hearts. They depict among other things our true relationship with God.

The Bible gives us two vivid examples of the default position of the people. The first is found in the Old Testament in Genesis. The setting is the days before God sent a flood upon the earth. "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). There was one notable exception to the default position of evil among the people. A man named Enoch was the exception. About Enoch, the Bible says, "So all the days of Enoch was three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:23, 24).

The New Testament example of the default position of individuals is found in 1 Corinthians 2:14, "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." These two biblical examples are actually very similar. The mind and hearts of the people in Genesis was only evil continuously. The natural man in 1 Corinthians has no ability to know and respond to spiritual things. When we operate in the flesh (the natural man) our natural responses will be evil. It may be blatant evil like rape or murder. It can be more subtle evil such as greed and selfishness.

What is the default position of my life today? What about our beloved country? The default position of my mind and heart changed when I received Christ into my heart. He became my Saviour and the default position my heart and mind changed. I believe that only Christ can change the human heart. He alone can transform our thinking.

All of us have a default position to which our minds and hearts go. Looking out across the landscape of America today and the churches of our land, I believe we need to conduct an honest and serious examination of the default position of our lives.