God Knew What He Was Getting Himself Into
Sometimes I feel sorry for God. I look around and try to find someone who is really living full-out for Him, and it’s hard to think of the kind of person I am imagining. I think about the writers of the Christian Classics that have been gone from the earth for centuries or even millennium, but then I read in the Bible where God let the real icky stuff about His most trusted servants come out, and I’ve got to believe that those I imagine to be perfect had their blind spots too.
It strikes me that God knew exactly what He was getting Himself into when Hecreated man and even when He ordained that man’s redemption would not onlyinvolve sending His Son Jesus to die for us, but to entrust believers with thetask of spreading His plan for redemption. We basically don’t do a verygood job of it. There are those who want to add to the plan God gave and saythat anyone who wants God can find Him anyway they want, it doesn’t haveto be through Jesus. There are others who make following Jesus look as appealingas swallowing lemon juice and being constipated for a lifetime. Some give theimpression that God is for the ones who don’t mess up and do good thingsall the time.
How many of us are living a life that others are demanding to have for themselves?When was the last time you were flagged down and asked, “What is your secretbecause I want what you have?” It’s not God’s fault that Hegets such a bad rap from the people who are out there representing Him. SomehowHe’s got that covered. I believe that somehow He has factored that intoHis plan that all the world will hear His amazing, too-good-to-be-true gospelmessage from imperfect saint to imperfect saint. It’s His Holy Spirit.He is here, constantly working in and through us, trying to get us to understandwhen He wants us to be quiet and when He wants us to talk. He even wants us tolisten to Him to know what to say to others.
He tries to make it very simple for us to know how to share His love with everyonewe meet. He says in 1 Peter 3:15: “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” It begins with our hearts. If we are not being asked about our great lives with God, then we need to look at our hearts. Have we set Christ apart? Are we really making Christ our priority? Are we about our loving Savior or about what we think is right? Secondly, we need to get prepared. We need to think within ourselves what we would share if someone asks us for the hope that is in us. We get prepared so we aren’t tongue-tied. Our attitude always needs to be gentle and respectful.
God knew what He was getting Himself into, but He did it anyway. That in itself gives me hope that this plan may work. Even though I see a lot of His followers not leading others into the Kingdom as He planned, and some even discouraging others from getting there, I know that He knows. I trust Him and I know what my focus needs to be. I need to set Christ apart in my heart. I need to think about Him and His will for me every moment, every day. |
