Saturday, November 14, 2015

Ends and Means

Have we caught the vision God has for us?  Are we prepared to be wholly His?  When Israel by neglect and indifference failed to capture all the land God had for her, she tragically left herself open to all the curses that come to those who sin.  The nation, rather than doing away with the idolatry and immorality of the region, embraced it and welcomed it.  Bethlehem felt the wrath of Israel's new heritage as a religious half-breed when Herod, rather than welcoming the Christ child tried to stamp him out by killing all the other babies of the village.  The Pharisees and Sadducees thought their religious ways had blotted out the corruption of their hearts but instead the religion they coddled betrayed the God they claimed as theirs when with one voice they cried, "Crucify him!"  Was it just David who suffered when he slept with Bathsheba or did all the generations that followed him fall under the shadow that sin cast?  It is a narrow way, this pursuit of God's grace in normal activities, letting the life of Christ work through our lusts, jealousies and frustrations.  You have a conscience, not so you will be hang-dog guilty but so you will act in the crucified life of Christ at the dinner table and the office.  A redeemed Christian has at his or her disposal all the power of the resurrection to get right the little things that make a life big and eternally good for every generation that encounters it.  Holiness is the heritage you leave behind you and later the heritage you take with you when you "share in your Master's happiness".

 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'   Matthew 25:23 NIV


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