Saturday, 10 March 2007

  • Taking God's Love For Granted


    I was reading an article a few minutes ago and would like to share with you a store from it, along with some of my thoughts. Take a moment to read this, I found it really eye-opening.

    (Take no note of the character's name being Sarah, that was just a strange irony.)

    "Sarah was a wonderful Christian woman who had a rare and deep relationship with the Lord. But her brother George was the proverbial black sheep of the family, and his selfish life was the antithesis of his sister's generous conduct. George had a severe alcohol problem. After years of abuse, his body began to rebel from the constant drinking, and his kidneys were failing fast. The doctors told Sarah that George would surely die soon without a kidney transplant, but it was doubtful that he would even qualify to be placed on the waiting list for a kidney because of his steady history of drinking. Sarah asked the doctors if she could give one of her kidneys to her ailing brother. The doctors responded, "If your blood types match you could, but this is an expensive operation and we question the wisdom of putting your health at risk for a person with such self-destructive habits."

    It turned out that their blood types did match, but George had no insurance, so Sarah quickly mortgaged her home and promised she would pay the rest. With some persistent urging, she finally persuaded the hospital to perform the surgery.

    The transplant procedure went fine, for George, that is, but there were some tragic complications for Sarah.

    She had a severe allergic reaction to the anesthetic and found herself paralyzed after the surgery from the waist down. Sarah was able to bravely bear the tragic news a little better when she was told that George seemed to be doing remarkably well. She said, "If I am able to buy my brother a few more years of life to find the Savior then it was still worth it, even if I can never walk again."

    Now here is the reason for the story. How do you think Sarah felt when her brother never stopped by her bed to thank her for her costly sacrifice? And how do you think Sarah felt when she learned that the first thing her brother did after leaving the hospital was to go to the bar and celebrate?

    Most of the world eagerly takes the blessings of God and then selfishly squanders them like the prodigal son. But how do you think Jesus feels when a professed Christian goes from His presence after receiving mercy and life and returns to the very thing that cost Him such suffering to save us? When we see and understand something of how much our sins have cost Him we will no longer want to embrace the monster that ravaged our Lord.

    Jesus did not come and die on the cross in order to purchase us a license for us to sin. He came to save us FROM sin. That love is the power that enables us to turn from sin. "Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" (Ro. 2:4)."

      I must admit, I've never quite thought of it in that way. We often think of God on this different level, but in reality, He gets hurt just as we would. We're all guilty of that little practise, aren't we? Going ahead with sinning even once we know the particular thing is wrong, with the idea that afterwards we can always confess and stop. The idea that it's okay to do it for now, because we can always stop doing it later. It seems like such a compelling opportunity, doesn't it? Knowing that God loves us, regardless..and that He accepts us as the sinful humans we are. Yet, it really gives us no excuse when you think about it. It's just chickening out. Sure, maybe it makes it a little easier if we convince ourselves that it's only us that we are hurting; but as the story points out, we're hurting God in an awful way. He's helped us, given us so much, and we throw it all back in His face just for a short while of something we consider enjoyable.

      Now, I do stress that we all do this. I'm not pointing fingers or trying to make anyone feel bad. Not in the least. I'm trying to point out the ugly truth behind what we tend to do. It's not easy to face at all. That's the beauty of God's grace, though. No matter how awful we may be to Him, we 'can' come back and He will accept us. Even after we slide backwards twenty times. Even more amazing is the fact that, if we are truly willing to let Him help us, He will give us the ability to stop backsliding altogether. Through Him we can eventually overcome this habit, and even sin in it's complete sense.

    Here's another part of that article I want to share:

    ""Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven" (Mt. 18:21, 22).

    If God is asking us to forgive each other seven times in one day or seventy times seven, will He do less for us? Of course God will forgive us every time that we sincerely repent. But there is a danger that we can come to the place that we presume upon His grace and through abusing His forgiveness, harden our own hearts.

    "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" (He. 10:26).

    "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Ro. 6:1, 2).

    There is effort involved in denying self and living the Christian life. The Bible says we war, wrestle, run, fight, and strive. But the fight is a good fight of faith. We must strive to trust God's plan and will for us rather than our own. We must fight to stay close to Jesus. Mary was safe from sin when she was with Jesus. "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not" (1 Jn. 3:6)."

       The part I underlined above is a point that stands out strongly to me. Let me elaborate a bit on it.

       If we rely too much on the fact that God is forgiving and loving, and that no matter what we do He will ultimately understand, we are at risk of "hardening our hearts" towards the truth. In today's society it is so common to hear that we much love ourselves (and others) for who they are. Thusly, it's thought that a kind and just God would do the same. That's sort of right. God 'does' understand why we sin, but that doesn't make it right. There are psychologists in the world who completely understand why someone is a serial killer. Does that make the act of killing justifiable and okay? Not in the least! So, yes, God loves us for who we are; but it is because of that love that He wants us to be free from 'all' sin.

      It's a dangerous place to be in if we start to believe that any sin is okay with God. We need to ask for Him to help us let it go and stop living with it, regardless of what it is or how much a part of us it is. If that serial killer just went out and kept killing, after we let him free from serving his time and trusting that he learned his lesson..Could he claim that it's acceptable for him to kill again simple because it is such a part of him that it's too much effort to change it? Not at all. Yet, with the right help and effort, he could have kept himself from harming someone again. The same goes with anything in our lives which even remotely involves sin. Remember, Satan 'wants' us to believe that it's okay to sin. Anytime you start to get that thought, even if it's just because you are thinking "Just one more time, then I'll stop", that's Satan winning at pulling you away from God's grace and His ability to keep you from sinning.

    "Jesus left us a perfect example. And just as soon as we say God cannot keep me from sinning we are venturing on deadly ground. In essence we are saying, "Satan is powerful enough to tempt me to sin, but Jesus is not powerful enough to keep me from sin." My Bible tells me that "greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 Jn. 4:4)."

      To sum things up, I recommend reading the entire article. It's well worth it, even though it is rather long. You can check it out here: A Perfect Christian?

       Take a moment and assess your life, your habits, 'you'. Think about your reasoning for doing things which you may have even had the smallest of doubts that God might not like it. It may not be easy, and it may seem impossible to change these natures, but remember:

    (Philippians 4:13) I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

    (Matthew 17:20) And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

    Blessings and Love,
    Sarah

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