May 30 ~ Romans 11:1-5
I ask then: Did God reject his people?
By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the
tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.
Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he
appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets
and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying
to kill me"? And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for
myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too, at
the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace,
then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be
grace.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
As
Nathan approaches his fourth birthday, he has taken up the rally cry of
“You don’t love me anymore!” when he is reprimanded. We assure him
that we do, and he often follows with, “Well, then I don’t love YOU
anymore!”…or the “knife-to-the-heart” response – “I am not your bestest
friend any MORE!” We smile and say, “Okay”…and he has to do his “time
out” or whatever anyway!
Timothy, our resident worry-wart, will
often spontaneously ask, “Are you mad at me?” …as if he has done
something that upset us – or that he knows he should not do. Of course,
we assure him that we are NOT mad at him. And Zola just goes with the
flow! The three children are in many ways a microscopic model of the
world at large and how we operate and react in regard to others –
particularly authority figures and leaders.
I have long heard it
said (and more frequently in recent months)…that by all rights, God
should wipe us all out and either start over or give up completely.
We’ve all said and done things that must make God crazy in any given
moment. The quote for this date on my daily calendar says, “Only some
of us can learn by other people’s mistakes. The rest of us have to be
the other people.” And this is where God’s grace comes into play.
Without
God’s grace, we surely would be totally banished from the face of the
earth. He could not put up with us otherwise! Because of God’s grace,
we are given second chances – often, lots of them! God honors His
promise to redeem us through the blood of Jesus. So those of us who
have surrendered our hearts to Jesus Christ and admitted our sins and
shortcomings are covered by God’s grace and mercy. This is not a
license to live as we please…but it IS a reminder that our “good works”
will not get us into God’s “good graces.”
The message for today
is that God is occasionally mad at us - or disappointed. He may not
feel like being our “bestest friend” in the moment. But because of the
blood of Jesus…and God’s amazing grace…we are part of the “remnant” who
are protected and given more chances than we deserve to turn things
around. Let’s show God just how grateful we are and make the most of
them, shall we?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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