I am sending you a quote from a sermon I was listening to on Gracedowntown.org this morning - I sent the expanded quote to you in an email. As we compare ourselves to the patriarchs in the Bible, I think that we can see that we are just as they were. And yet, through it all, God sent His son to be the Savior of the world.
"When I want to be number one in the eyes of people I work with and live with for selfish reasons, then I am like Jacob who wanted the number one position in his family and cheated his older brother to get it. God should have treated Jacob with disdain and removed him from his position of responsibility, and he should treat me with disdain and take responsibility out of my hands. But he didn’t, and he doesn’t. Instead he kept Jacob in the line of the promised Savior and keeps me in line to receive heaven. That’s grace!
When I complain about the path my life is taking as if it’s God’s fault and not my own dumb decisions, then I am like the Israelites who were being led by God’s cloud and fire to the Promised Land but complained and went their own way. God should have abandoned them in the desert, and he should abandon me in hell. But he didn’t, and he doesn’t! Instead he gave them the promised land of Canaan, and he gives me the promised land of heaven. That’s grace! "
I am sending you a quote from a sermon I was listening to on Gracedowntown.org this morning - I sent the expanded quote to you in an email. As we compare ourselves to the patriarchs in the Bible, I think that we can see that we are just as they were. And yet, through it all, God sent His son to be the Savior of the world.
ReplyDelete"When I want to be number one in the eyes of people I work with and live with for selfish reasons, then I am like Jacob who wanted the number one position in his family and cheated his older brother to get it. God should have treated Jacob with disdain and removed him from his position of responsibility, and he should treat me with disdain and take responsibility out of my hands. But he didn’t, and he doesn’t. Instead he kept Jacob in the line of the promised Savior and keeps me in line to receive heaven. That’s grace!
When I complain about the path my life is taking as if it’s God’s fault and not my own dumb decisions, then I am like the Israelites who were being led by God’s cloud and fire to the Promised Land but complained and went their own way. God should have abandoned them in the desert, and he should abandon me in hell. But he didn’t, and he doesn’t! Instead he gave them the promised land of Canaan, and he gives me the promised land of heaven. That’s grace! "