Titus 3:11-14
God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Timothy is visiting us for three days and two nights… and as he put it, “I have a LOT of work to do.” In the first 90 minutes, he ate two cheese sandwiches (NO crust!), drank a glass of orange juice, sampled his first eggnog (and loved it!), watched “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and part of “Frosty the Snowman”, played with cars and planes, looked at the ornaments on the Christmas tree, made characters out of new Play-Doh®, and grabbed his “Christmas” blanket and a “soft” Santa Claus, headed upstairs to his Uncle Greg’s office, and piled up on the daybed for a “rest”! Every time he visits, there are familiar toys and rituals… but he makes many of them see new and fresh… as if he is experiencing them for the very first time! For him, there are lots of “do-overs” at our house!
New life… a second chance…starting over…even something as seemingly mundane as a new package of Play-Doh®…don’t we all long for this at one time or another? Don’t we long for the slate to be wiped clean and anticipate a day when everything is perfect… or pretty darn close?
The GOOD NEWS is that the perfect day IS coming, for those of us who have hope in Jesus Christ. We can eagerly await this day with the anticipation of a four-year-old boy who has just been told he gets an extended stay with his aunt and uncle in the “Playland” that is like heaven on earth for him. We have each been granted a new life… a second chance… an opportunity to turn our backs on the godless, indulgent life of our past and fill our hearts and minds with the things of God.
Sound boring and un-exciting? Let me assure you, this life is entirely the opposite. Because of God’s grace, mercy, and blessings… because of the sacrifices of Jesus Christ for our sins… we have the opportunity to enjoy abundant life. We can live free of the constraints of trying to conform to the standards of others. Ours are clear cut…love God with all our heart, mind, and soul… and love others as God loves us! If anything we are doing, saying, or thinking doesn’t line up with this… we know we are off track and need to get back on the right path. The best part is that God stands ready to give and forgive… to help us start over - every day if necessary! So just like Timothy, each day can be as new and fresh as the first time we visited… our first day as a disciple of Christ.
Do you need a “do-over” with Jesus? Did you know that He is willing to grant this to you? Have you placed your hope in Him to give you a pure life filled with energetic goodness? Are you making Him proud in your service as His disciple? Do you have the child-like wonder in your relationship with Jesus that makes even a cheese sandwich with no crust and your first sips of eggnog seem glorious and refreshing? Shouldn’t you?
©2013 Debbie Robus
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