Sand, Pebbles and Boulders

I have a love-hate relationship with Paul the Apostle! More love really and not really hate but rather conviction. In this area of surrender and submission there are, no doubt, many challenges. We create some of the challenges in our minds but no matter how they get there, they exist. I sit, mentally, several times through my day and close my eyes, picture my stones on the table, take my arms, like a child who doesn't want something that's been put in front of them, and push those stones away. Sometimes they all go and sometimes one tries to stay behind. My stones are all different sizes, too. Some are the size of sand and can be blown across the table while others are like pebbles and push easily and still others are boulders in my life. They match the size of my challenge. As a woman, I love to be given affection. Hugs, stroking of the hair, holding hands, linking arms, arm around my shoulders - you women know what I mean. We all long for that physical touch. Perhaps we can put some of the blame on society that we just don't reach out to each other any more. When is the last time that someone really REALLY hugged you and you could feel in your bones that they truly had emotion attatched to that embrace? Kids hugs are always the best, I think.....
For me though, that is my largest stone. Not hugs, but rather releasing to those physical desires when in a dating relationship. Ephesians 5 starts out with telling us to "be imitators of God." What a thought! To imitate the Almighty God that created us, the earth and everything in it! Where do you even begin? When I was a child, I thought imitating people was so much fun! Children imitate their parents and teachers with both good and bad behaviors and habits. Eventually those imitations become who they are as an adult. Now that I am an adult, those imitations have become part of the thread of my very being.
Verse 3 states "there must not be even a HINT of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity..." How difficult it is sometimes to keep ourselves in check. Not even a hint. Not any kind of regular American girl and certainly not myself. Pure, honest and humble. Not exactly the words I would use to describe the average successful professional woman in my society. Is it possible to live up to that description? Is that why we are asked to be "imitators"? Was it because Christ hoped that we would live our Christian lives shooting for the goal of imitating our heavenly Father rather than running helter skelter? Have you stopped to think about what a hint of sexual immorality in this day and age would be? Would it be any different today than it was in Paul's day?
So this is the boulder in the garden that is my life. Pray for me as I will pray for you. Only with His strength can we overcome our daily - sometimes hourly - challenges. Keep pushing with all your might...