July 26, 2020
A preacher was playing golf and as he was playing, a squirrel picked up his ball, carried it to the hole, and dropped in right in! The preacher looked up to the sky and said, “Lord, if you don’t mind, I’d rather do it myself.” Doesn’t that sound like something we humans would say? With all the “crazy” that 2020 has given us, I would like to remind us of something. You are not God, neither am I. That should be a relief to us because too many times, we humans feel like we are in the “fixing” business. Quite often, the things we try to fix are the things in which we have very little control. Paul reminds us in Romans 11:34-36, “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Or who has given a gift to Him that might be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen”. God is in charge and guess what? God knows what he is doing! Even though we might not be aware of it, too many times we try to “fix” things we have no business messing with. This “do-it yourself” mentality is not only seen in physical things; it spills over into the spiritual realm as well. All too often, we spend entirely too much effort in trying to fix ourselves, spiritually. The problem is, we can’t. Trying to earn God’s favor through our obedience and self-righteousness is just as fruitless as jumping off a building and flapping our arms in an attempt to fly. On the other hand, when we recognize that we are indeed “poor in Spirit” and admit our spiritual dependence on God and when we take our sins and lay them at the foot of the cross, THEN the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse us. Jude is spot on when he states, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever” (Jude 24-25). Don’t get me wrong, I am not minimizing the importance of obedience. With obedience comes blessing and with disobedience comes heartache. This is shown over and over again in both the Old and New Testaments. With that being said, our obedience doesn’t save us, God’s grace and mercy does that. Our obedience allows the Holy Spirit to make us more like Jesus and that too, is HIS work. So, as we “work out our salvation”, let’s remember that our God is large and in charge and the best thing we can do is say “Yes, Sir” and get out of His way!
Be blessed and be a blessing….Brother Andy
