Cumulative Effects

It is well accepted that the more time you spend time with someone or something, the more you become like that person or thing. I really don't think that's the reason some people look like their dogs, but you've got to wonder when you see something like this.

I do, however, think that is the reason Christians must spend time with Christ and with the Bible. The more time we spend with Christ, the more we become like him. The more time we spend in His Word, the more we understand what it is He would have us to do. Christ has a cumulative effect of good on us--more of Christ, less of us; less of us, more of Christ.

My doctors tell me that there is a cumulative effect of chemotherapy. That poison they put into my body has the purpose of destroying cancer cells, but it also destroys some good things. That poison also comes with side effects. Those side effects get cumulatively worse the longer you are exposed to the chemotherapy. So the neuropathy (a diseased condition of the nervous system) caused by one of the chemicals I am taking (causing tingling in my fingertips) will get progressively worse the more of the drug I receive. But that is the reality with which my human frame is dealing.

The Bible tells me that there is a cumulative effect of sin, especially for Christians. Just as the more time with spend with Christ makes us more like him, the more time we spend away from Him, in the world, or in sin, the more those influences create a neuropathy or rather pneumopathy (a diseased condition of the spiritual system) which will get progressively worse the longer we remain in the world or sin. Fortunately, that does not have to be the reality for our spiritual frame, for Christ bids us to "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

So which cumulative effect is yours?