Wax on, wax off.

     In the movie, The Karate Kid, the instructions were always in two parts.  Wax on, wax off was one of those instructions.  At the same time he took care of the fence by moving his hands and arms up and down to apply the preservative.  Two commands.  That's all it took for the master to train the grasshopper as he found out when he began competition.  Hand and eye coordination and movement are essential in most things in life.  Miss the cue and you miss the event.  We live by that which we are taught and repeatedly do.  If you lived in an atmosphere where you were respected and you respected others you most likely still show respect and teach respect to your children.  If you lived in an atmosphere of contempt for each other and you held others in contempt then you most likely teach that to your children as well.  Why the difference?  Where is the individual will and the hand of God directing and changing us in his likeness?  Why is it that we have such a hard time living as He wants us to and such an easy time living as the world wants?  Because we haven't had the wax on and wax off experience.
     Knowing what is right to think, do and say is not something to be taken lightly.  The "right thing" to think, do and say is expensive.  It costs you the chance to be "one of the crowd", the chance to "score with this person or that", the cost of advancement when you participate in ill gotten gain.  The right thing isn't something easily gained, kept or given away.  In 1962 the Supreme Court took away the parenting rights of parents by dictating how discipline could be administered and who could administer that discipline.  Children were enabled to "report" their parents or caregivers for "abuse" when they were spanked or grounded.  As a result we stand today with parents who are little more than birth parents with the responsibilities to dole out money to pay similar to child support.  Shortly after that the same court took prayer out of school.  Then the pledge of allegiance was attacked and finally our children are putting condoms on bananas because the government deems us lacking in providing instruction to our children.  It's become worse as time has gone on.  AND it's going to get worse before the return of Jesus.  His return is our salvation from the world and ourselves.
     Wax on, wax off.
     It may seem like I'm blaming the world for all the woes of mankind.  That's simply not the truth.  Our alleged Christian leaders have fallen down as have the Christian bodies relegated to be the body of Christ together.  Where once the Gospel was preached; we no longer see the resemblance.  Where once sin was called sin; we now see permissiveness to keep the person (I won't call them Christian) comfortable where they are as long as they keep giving.  Lack of integrity, lack of morals, and lack of Christly focus are all a result of the abandonment of the Gospel by mankind.  We cannot make anyone do anything they don't want to do.  We cannot make anyone stop doing what they are doing either.  We can only be whom Christ ordained us to be and then teach others to be the same.  Religious norms aside, I'd rather be found in good standing with Jesus than with mankind inside the church or outside of the church. 
     Wax on, wax off.
     It's such a simple exercise that we miss the point just as the Karate Kid missed the point.  That is until he was called upon to do that which he was called to do...karate.  It was in the moment of need that his skills were discovered, utilized and uncompromised.  The way in which we "train" to be the body of Christ is backwards.  Going to Sunday School, Wednesday night and Sunday services are merely the means by which seeds are planted and fellowship established.  Unfortunately for those who are preached a salvation by any means other than Jesus; the moment of reckoning will leave them behind.  The activities we play out in our lives are either directed and honoring to Jesus or they are not.  Simple.  The thoughts we engage in and carry on in our lives are either directed and honoring to Jesus or they are not.  The things we say in our lives and the lives of our children and others are either directed and honoring to Jesus or they are not.  It's your choice.
     Wax on, wax off.