Don't take advantage of God.

“I can do what I want, and then just ask for forgiveness.  God will forgive me.  I’m a Christian.”  Seriously?  Don’t take advantage of God.
This is truly the thought of some people.  They go with the thought of, “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission.” Again…seriously?  Don’t take advantage of God.
Just because you have been given freedom to live in Christ, doesn’t mean you’ve been given freedom to live as the world does. 
In Galatians 5:13 it says, “My brothers and sisters, God chose you to be free. But don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do what pleases your sinful selves.”
When you choose to have Jesus in your heart and become a Christian, you have freed yourself from the life of sin.  Romans 8:2, “And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” But sin is always crouching at your door to tempt you and encourage you to engage in acts that are not godly. Genesis 4:7 says, “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
I want to do well.  Really.  It would be so easy to just do as the world would have me to live, but there is always a penalty to be paid for the wrongs I do.  If we just strive to live for Christ and follow His example, we will have those penalties turn into rewards.
Let’s relate that to the season of sport it is….football.  I love to watch a good football game.  Heck, I even went to a USF vs. FSU football game last night.  I’m not necessarily a fan of either (since Tim graduated from UF and I from UCF) (Sorry my Seminole and Bulls fans.), but I do enjoy a good game and we had a great time with our boys and friends.  Anyhow, when mistakes are made, penalties are called, and yardage is lost for those who committed the wrong.  Games are often lost due to so many penalties. Do you think the coach was very happy with his players who caused those careless penalties? Probably not.  The players know better, but sometimes, their emotions and eagerness get the best of them.
Sounds like life, huh?  We know the right thing to do, but often get caught up in the emotion or eagerness of the tempting situation.  And just like the game of football, when we choose to make those careless mistakes and go with the world instead of God, we aren’t the only ones affected by our choices. The team suffers, and for our circumstance, others may suffer too.
Just today, Holly had to interview me for one of her classes.  One of the questions she asked me was if there was anything I did in high school that I regretted.  I easily flashed back to our senior party we had after school.  I was known as one of the good Christian girls in school.  So when I and a couple of my other good reputation friends arrived to the party and started drinking a wine cooler, the cameras started clicking and the others were excitedly in shock that we were drinking right along with them.  Ugh!  As soon as that happened, I remember the feeling I had inside. I had disappointed God and had tainted my witness.
Just because I was a Christian, did that give me the right to do whatever I wanted and ask for forgiveness later?  No. Have I made the greatest of choices since then and stayed “little miss perfect” (as Holly called me)?  No.  But I sure strive to be like Christ, and have learned (and am still learning) from my careless ways.  Romans 12:1-2 says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
So, think about the actions you do and words you say and remember not to “take advantage of God”.
Blessings to you.