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So much of life is waiting. . .

As a Christian, I am waiting for a lot--for God to do His refining work in me, for Jesus to return, for me to GET how much God loves me and for me to see what He is doing . . .

What to do in the meantime? I have learned much about what the Lord is trying to teach me, tell me and show me through the discipline of daily time spent reading the Bible. So often we make this time harder than it has to be.

This blog was born out of wanting to share what God is showing me and wanting to be an example that daily time with God is not a deep or mysterious thing (well, every once in a while it can be), but simply a time to read scripture and note what jumps out at you that day. We don't have to be scholars or super-holy or ministry leaders to do this. Some days I hit the jackpot and others I come up empty--but only by persevering do I give God the space in which to speak and myself the stillness in which to hear and obey.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Call a Spade a Spade

The Bible contains lots and lots of verses about loving our enemies, overlooking an offense, and forgiving. However, I think sometimes that Christians can take this to the extreme. By this statement I don't mean that we take the actions of loving, overlooking, or forgiving to an extreme, but that, in the process, we stop calling what is sin "sin," or evil "evil."

Proverbs 17:15:
He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.


People do wicked things. I do wicked things. We lie, we gossip, we cheat, we seek our own interests. All of those actions are sin. It doesn't help me for you to justify me in my sin. I think the loving, overlooking, and forgiving are so difficult because, to truly do them, we have to acknowledge that we are loving sinful people. We are overlooking wrong. We are forgiving wickedness.

The truth and miracle of the gospel is that Jesus died for wicked sinners--and that is me and that is you. The grace we are given is unmerited, unearned, unfathomable. I think we dull this reality for ourselves and others when we minimize the sin and evil in the world.

Romans 5:7-8:
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

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