Yesterday I wrote about the importance of having breaks for recovery (you can read about that here). While there definitely is a need for renewal opportunities, there comes a time when you need to get back to work.
Last week was a wonderful time at a Bible Conference filled with fellowship, and excellent preaching….
but eventually the tent had to come down.
Helping some pastors take down the large tent we used or services Friday I was reminded of church camp I attended as a teenager. Those weeks were great experiences where the Lord did a wonderful work in hearts. But on Saturday you always had to go back to the “real world.”
I am not trying to be negative, but the truth is, this world is a sinful place. Not everyone there loves the Lord, and takes a stand for the things of God. More importantly, the real world is a place filled with the temptations and testings of Satan.
He is usually too smart to attack you during church camp….he just waits for you to come home.
This can make us not want to enter the real world again. Like Peter, we would rather build some tents on the mountain of transfiguration (mountaintop experience) and stay there.
But the tent must come down eventually.
And we must enter the real world.
The reason for this is we aren’t called to a comfortable, easy life as Christians. Instead, we are called to spiritual warfare, hardship, and suffering. And we are called to enter the darkness of this world with the light of the Gospel.
Christ left the comfort and glory of Heaven to enter into a sin-cursed world and die for me
So I leave the place of spiritual and emotional renewal then enter into that sin-cursed world for Him.
There is nothing wrong with times of renewal (in fact we should have them)
But we should never stay there.
Johnhwilburn.com 
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