Daily Devotional for July 3, 2015

Ephesians 2:7-10
Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

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.
       
Late night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel does a segment called “Lie Witness News,” in which he has a “reporter” go out on the street and question people about supposed news events.  For instance, on July 2, 2015, the “reporter” asked passersby made-up questions…such as telling them that the Governor of California had rescheduled the 4th of July to February - and asking them what they thought of this.  You should have heard the responses.  More than one person said that they had heard this news on television or the radio – or they had read about it.  And did they ever have opinions about what should happen!

One woman said, “I don't agree with that totally.  Please keep it on the day that history was made.”  A young man responded…”It's a good time to do it during summer.  The kids are out of school for the summer...the best time would be during the summer to have the 4th of July.”  The reporter chimed in: "And it's a good day celebrate the signing of the Magna Carta." (Yes, he said Magna Carta!) The person being interviewed agreed..."That's the day that it happened, so that's the day it should be celebrated."  "When did you hear about this?" the reporter asked him. "I probably heard it about a month ago," he answered.

This would be even funnier if it weren’t so sad. And it speaks to how we twist things to suit our own agendas – or to “fit in” with those in our midst.  So it should come as no surprise that first one person or group and then another wants to take complete ownership of God and salvation through the blood of Jesus.  They set themselves up as THE ONES whom God has chosen – and redeemed…and they hang the rest of the folks out to dry.  You can insert your own group name here…based on your personal feelings about people of different races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, economic status, or political leanings, to name a few.  If there is any discrepancy or difference, the other guy is surely all wrong…and you are all right…and “God has said so.”  You are quite sure that’s what you heard or read!

Essentially, this kind of thinking puts us on the same level with those interviewed on the street, who seem to “make it up as they go.”  God did not set some of us apart as His agents to play judge and jury. His grace – and the gift of Salvation through Jesus did not come with discriminatory restrictions.  The criteria is pretty simple…confess your sins, ask Jesus to forgive you and invite Him to dwell in your heart, then follow His commandments to love God and to love others as you love yourself.  Everything else is pretty much an embellishment that we create…and a lot of us are giving ourselves far too much credit and “Spiritual authority.”

We can probably agree that some of these folks who are interviewed for the Jimmy Kimmel segments are caught off guard…that they respond in the excitement of the moment and don’t carefully consider what they are saying.  But isn’t that the point?  Don’t we have to be deliberate and thoughtful in everything we say and do with regard to our Christian faith and discipleship? 

It is critical that we get this right. God demands it!  Read the last sentence of this scripture passage again…”He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.” If we are doing anything else, twisting any part of God’s plan to suit our own agenda, or embellishing His words and missions with our own, we’ve gotten it all wrong. 

Where does this leave you?  Will this be the day that you search your heart and make sure that you are doing God’s good work…that your words and actions line up with His plans and intentions?  Don’t you think it should be?

©2015 Debbie Robus