Consider for a moment, how vastly different the God of Israel was from the false gods of the ancient world.
Tag: sin
We tend to look outward instead of inward, don’t we? We tend to focus on the faults of others – which we have no control over – even though we still have a long ways to grow ourselves. There’s enough going wrong within our own frames to keep us busy until Jesus comes back.
Repentant people recognize and confess their affliction frequently, they allow the Gardener to come close and lop off the offending limb for the sake of the tree’s overall health.
Why one? One was willing. One was fed up enough with his station to a point of transformation. One believed Jesus at His word. One was obedient. One was willing to share his testimony when asked.
It occurs to me this morning, forgiveness is always the first step in reconciliation. Someone has to be the bigger (but maybe meeker?) person in the relationship. Thankfully for us, God has already extended grace toward us. And our only right response after receiving said grace is extending it toward others. Our mercy piece is vital because forgiveness gets people’s attention. It opens their eyes to the reality of the Kingdom.
The Pharisees failed to see themselves accurately in the narrative. We all struggle to a degree. We are all near-sighted, too selfish and too important to see the bigger picture with divine priority. This is why it is critical to engage with Jesus and ask for His perspective.
Sin glimmers like Egypt from the wilderness: the far-off promise of something easier, but when we get close enough to lay hold, it’s something altogether different than we expected and it’s too late to turn around. Sin is a trap and we are creature caught in it’s clutches. Egypt is not as it seemed.
It’s good to live today with accounting day in mind; quite convinced that one day we’ll give an explanation for these twenty-four hours. It’s good to recall this as we consider others, as we interact with flesh and blood in a fallen world. Some day we’re all going to stand before God and sputter an answer for our actions.
“Sin is always looking for another participant. Our enemy endlessly seeks to incite us, to pull is in to the vortex of trespass swirling about us. It’s an ongoing challenge to hold our tongue in this season of pandemic, politics and rampant cancel culture. Sometimes the holist thing we can do is keep silent.”
Paul may have been referring to an ancient Roman form of capital punishment.