Just another day to understand a little bit more about God's grace.
I've always had a guilty spirit. You know, when the entire school called an assembly because someone stole money from the office, and though I had nothing to do with it, I would sit there feeling like the whole room was staring a hole through me as if I'd done something wrong. Maybe you can relate. Well, as I've grown and matured in my faith (just a little bit since that time), and quite honestly through difficult circumstances I've faced, I've released a lot of that underserved guilt simply because you could drive yourself crazy, and well... I'm crazy enough already as it is! ;)
So, with all of that being said, guilty or not, Proverbs 18:9 convicts the junk out of me! "Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys." So, in my Bible, the verse number is circled and out beside it the word 'Guilty!' is written. And, truthfully, I know I could 'redeem the time' much more efficiently most of the time.
What I didn't notice until this morning is that during another one of my readings of that chapter, I had simply put a 'star' next to the very next verse. Never relating the two at all. 18:10 says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe." I never connected the two verses to one another. One convicted and one encouraged. But, this morning I was wowed by the fact that they're right next to each other. And when I read them together I was relieved to see that, though we fail Him, He is constantly there for us!!! Together they read, "Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe." Well, would you look at that! I get excited just reading it, because, duh, whatever our struggle, whatever our sin: laziness, hatefulness, pride, even passive sins such as simply not making the most of our time... Whatever the case may be, HE IS FAITHFUL. He is a strong, never shifting tower, and HIS GRACE IS ENOUGH!!! We are 'safe' from our own sins and our own demise when we simply run into His gracious life-giving arms!
I am SO thankful that He reminds us ever so gently of our sin, and then follows it with His sweet reminder that He is there to run to, and that on our own, we will never be enough! Our choice simply lies in whether we will wallow in our sin or run into his safe, forgiving arms!
I've always had a guilty spirit. You know, when the entire school called an assembly because someone stole money from the office, and though I had nothing to do with it, I would sit there feeling like the whole room was staring a hole through me as if I'd done something wrong. Maybe you can relate. Well, as I've grown and matured in my faith (just a little bit since that time), and quite honestly through difficult circumstances I've faced, I've released a lot of that underserved guilt simply because you could drive yourself crazy, and well... I'm crazy enough already as it is! ;)
So, with all of that being said, guilty or not, Proverbs 18:9 convicts the junk out of me! "Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys." So, in my Bible, the verse number is circled and out beside it the word 'Guilty!' is written. And, truthfully, I know I could 'redeem the time' much more efficiently most of the time.
What I didn't notice until this morning is that during another one of my readings of that chapter, I had simply put a 'star' next to the very next verse. Never relating the two at all. 18:10 says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe." I never connected the two verses to one another. One convicted and one encouraged. But, this morning I was wowed by the fact that they're right next to each other. And when I read them together I was relieved to see that, though we fail Him, He is constantly there for us!!! Together they read, "Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe." Well, would you look at that! I get excited just reading it, because, duh, whatever our struggle, whatever our sin: laziness, hatefulness, pride, even passive sins such as simply not making the most of our time... Whatever the case may be, HE IS FAITHFUL. He is a strong, never shifting tower, and HIS GRACE IS ENOUGH!!! We are 'safe' from our own sins and our own demise when we simply run into His gracious life-giving arms!
I am SO thankful that He reminds us ever so gently of our sin, and then follows it with His sweet reminder that He is there to run to, and that on our own, we will never be enough! Our choice simply lies in whether we will wallow in our sin or run into his safe, forgiving arms!
*no matter how I tried, I couldn't get the pic to turn around. Just flip your computer sideways to read!
-The 4 Cokes
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