Reason #555
I find myself often times being concerned with the lives of others. Wondering what God is doing in their life and even, sometimes, why He is doing those things. And sometimes I find myself wondering how He is and will handle certain situations. Aaron and I talked about this at lunch today. The whole idea of grace and forgiveness and the fact that everyone is extended the same amount. The fact that God's love is totally and completely equal. That no one receives any more or less of any of Him. If we ask for forgiveness, no matter how much we've done or even how often we've done it, He will pour out the same amount of forgiveness as He gives to those who tend to commit less heinous sins. And if we ask to know Him, He will allow us to know Him no matter what our life looked like before Him. The Lord won't hide himself from anyone seeking Him, but He gladly accepts us rather we decide to faithfully follow Him as a child, as a middle aged criminal, or a well-aged adult who has lived a long life.
And so sometimes it doesn't seem all that fair, right? Because what if you chose to follow Him early on in life? And because of that decision, you lived your life differently. You didn't do what the rest of the world did. You didn't follow the standard set by your peers. You made an intentional decision to lead a different life. And when things went wrong, you didn't rebel. You continued to stay committed to the Lord. And when you had the perfect opportunity to make a really selfish and self-gratifying decision, you didn't do it because you wanted to honor the Lord more than feed your flesh. And maybe, when you were wronged, you forgave even though every ounce of you didn't really want to for a while. You made sacrifices, you gave things up, you didn't allow yourself to indulge in the pleasures of this world because you promised the Lord that you would follow Him and you've really tried to honor Him to the best of your ability.
But maybe your story is a little different. Maybe you chose to follow the Lord at a young age but it didn't take long for you to blend in to the rest of the world. Sure, you loved the Lord but you also really loved to do what everyone else did. You used the "grace card" time and time again because you read that if you asked for forgiveness, you'd get it. And so really all that mattered was that you just acknowledged the Lord, thus saving you and getting you into Heaven. And maybe you stayed on that path for a really, really long time. You hurt people, you cheated to get what you wanted, you confused others when you talked about God because your lifestyle didn't really point to Him, you indulged in any and everything that appeared to be good, and you never held back. You never denied yourself of the things of this world because as long as you continued to love Jesus while you did these things, that was good enough.
But let's take it a step further, maybe you ran from God. Maybe you rejected Him so many times you lost count. Because the last thing you wanted to do was trade in your life for something that appeared to be less. Plus, why change now? You've lived this way up until now and you've done just fine. Maybe you've had a really full life. Maybe you've got a great family, a good job, a lovely home, and quite the fun life. Why change anything? Or maybe things have been opposite of that. Because you ran from God, you lived the most destructive life possible and you've ended up in some pretty low places doing some pretty unthinkable things.
Well, if you're like me, you read these and you think that it would make sense for scenario #1 person to have a really incredible life. It would make sense that they be drowning in blessings, that they only receive good, that they have extra rewards, their mishaps are well overlooked, and that they have a really sweet and easy life, right? It doesn't seem fair that these other scenarios should play out and these people, too, would also receive forgiveness even though they spent the majority of their life not living for the Lord. It doesn't seem fair that they are the ones getting good things when they aren't really doing good things, either. And because of human logic, it seems that the Lord would show much more favor to the first person than to the others.
God has no favorites. He loves us all the same, forgives us all the same, and He gives us all the same grace. No, I don't get it. I'd be partial and biased as all get out, which is why He is God and I am not. And the truth of the matter is, I'm only responsible for Brittnye. I am only responsible for how I live my life. Because in the end, there is only one person I will stand before. There is only one who will rightly judge me. There is only one to whom I have to answer to, and so I can't worry about everyone else. In the end, everyone else will be doing the same thing, too. But what I've come to notice is that while I can look at the lives of others and think "that's not fair," I also realize that the choices we make have a direct impact on the type of relationship we have with the Lord. Two years ago, I tasted and saw the Lord in a way that I never had before. And although my actions didn't change, my heart did. And after getting to experience Him at that level, simply settling for just being saved so that I can go to Heaven when I die is not enough. It's not enough for me to just know who He is and go through motions. Jesus is more than enough, however, once He has filled you, you realize that it's impossible to get enough of Him. The more you get to know Him, the more you want to know Him. And this right here is what I realize is the difference. Because sure, I could have a really thrilling, extravagant, fun life and then, when I'm on my death bed, make the decision to accept Him as my Savior and live with Him forever, but what a sad thing it would be to have missed out on so many years of knowing Him. How unfortunate to never have experienced God's provisions, His deep love, redemption, the peace that surpasses understand, true joy and satisfaction, and actual meaning in life while on this earth.
Blessing and consequences play out in our lives. We'll experience both on earth. And while we can chose eternal life at any time, because there's no timeline in which we must accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, I have to say it's worth it. It's worth knowing Him as soon as you can, as well as you can. Because no matter when or how or what you've done, or which scenario you identify the most with, He loves you. He will forgive you, He will give you as much grace as you need, and He'll give you the same opportunity to experience His blessings in the here and now.
#555 - Because the more I get to know Him, the more I want to know Him, and there is no limit to how well we can know Him.
"I know the greatness of the Lord—that our Lord is greater than any other god." - Psalm 135:5
And so sometimes it doesn't seem all that fair, right? Because what if you chose to follow Him early on in life? And because of that decision, you lived your life differently. You didn't do what the rest of the world did. You didn't follow the standard set by your peers. You made an intentional decision to lead a different life. And when things went wrong, you didn't rebel. You continued to stay committed to the Lord. And when you had the perfect opportunity to make a really selfish and self-gratifying decision, you didn't do it because you wanted to honor the Lord more than feed your flesh. And maybe, when you were wronged, you forgave even though every ounce of you didn't really want to for a while. You made sacrifices, you gave things up, you didn't allow yourself to indulge in the pleasures of this world because you promised the Lord that you would follow Him and you've really tried to honor Him to the best of your ability.
But maybe your story is a little different. Maybe you chose to follow the Lord at a young age but it didn't take long for you to blend in to the rest of the world. Sure, you loved the Lord but you also really loved to do what everyone else did. You used the "grace card" time and time again because you read that if you asked for forgiveness, you'd get it. And so really all that mattered was that you just acknowledged the Lord, thus saving you and getting you into Heaven. And maybe you stayed on that path for a really, really long time. You hurt people, you cheated to get what you wanted, you confused others when you talked about God because your lifestyle didn't really point to Him, you indulged in any and everything that appeared to be good, and you never held back. You never denied yourself of the things of this world because as long as you continued to love Jesus while you did these things, that was good enough.
But let's take it a step further, maybe you ran from God. Maybe you rejected Him so many times you lost count. Because the last thing you wanted to do was trade in your life for something that appeared to be less. Plus, why change now? You've lived this way up until now and you've done just fine. Maybe you've had a really full life. Maybe you've got a great family, a good job, a lovely home, and quite the fun life. Why change anything? Or maybe things have been opposite of that. Because you ran from God, you lived the most destructive life possible and you've ended up in some pretty low places doing some pretty unthinkable things.
Well, if you're like me, you read these and you think that it would make sense for scenario #1 person to have a really incredible life. It would make sense that they be drowning in blessings, that they only receive good, that they have extra rewards, their mishaps are well overlooked, and that they have a really sweet and easy life, right? It doesn't seem fair that these other scenarios should play out and these people, too, would also receive forgiveness even though they spent the majority of their life not living for the Lord. It doesn't seem fair that they are the ones getting good things when they aren't really doing good things, either. And because of human logic, it seems that the Lord would show much more favor to the first person than to the others.
God has no favorites. He loves us all the same, forgives us all the same, and He gives us all the same grace. No, I don't get it. I'd be partial and biased as all get out, which is why He is God and I am not. And the truth of the matter is, I'm only responsible for Brittnye. I am only responsible for how I live my life. Because in the end, there is only one person I will stand before. There is only one who will rightly judge me. There is only one to whom I have to answer to, and so I can't worry about everyone else. In the end, everyone else will be doing the same thing, too. But what I've come to notice is that while I can look at the lives of others and think "that's not fair," I also realize that the choices we make have a direct impact on the type of relationship we have with the Lord. Two years ago, I tasted and saw the Lord in a way that I never had before. And although my actions didn't change, my heart did. And after getting to experience Him at that level, simply settling for just being saved so that I can go to Heaven when I die is not enough. It's not enough for me to just know who He is and go through motions. Jesus is more than enough, however, once He has filled you, you realize that it's impossible to get enough of Him. The more you get to know Him, the more you want to know Him. And this right here is what I realize is the difference. Because sure, I could have a really thrilling, extravagant, fun life and then, when I'm on my death bed, make the decision to accept Him as my Savior and live with Him forever, but what a sad thing it would be to have missed out on so many years of knowing Him. How unfortunate to never have experienced God's provisions, His deep love, redemption, the peace that surpasses understand, true joy and satisfaction, and actual meaning in life while on this earth.
Blessing and consequences play out in our lives. We'll experience both on earth. And while we can chose eternal life at any time, because there's no timeline in which we must accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, I have to say it's worth it. It's worth knowing Him as soon as you can, as well as you can. Because no matter when or how or what you've done, or which scenario you identify the most with, He loves you. He will forgive you, He will give you as much grace as you need, and He'll give you the same opportunity to experience His blessings in the here and now.
#555 - Because the more I get to know Him, the more I want to know Him, and there is no limit to how well we can know Him.
"I know the greatness of the Lord—that our Lord is greater than any other god." - Psalm 135:5
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