Right Standing.
Hmm. Reading in Daniel 9. The fourteenth verse really stuck out to me.
"The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him."
Tonight at House Gathering, we were discussing how we offer "non-christians" the peace, love, joy, fulfillment and everlasting happiness. Then when the find out it's not all about that, their emotions, we have the ever-popular back-slider. By appealing to their emotions, by just trying to offer them a better "ride", they aren't too thrilled with the outcome. The guys used this analogy.
Imagine 2 passengers on an airplane. The first passenger is handed a parachute and told to put it on because it'll make his trip more enjoyable. Soon he finds that he cannot sit upright and people are laughing at him. He then becomes bitter at the people who gave him this parachute and thus throws off his parachute. Now the second passenger is also handed a parachute. He is told that at any moment he will have to jump from the plane and the parachute will save his life. Now not only does he not care about being uncomfortable or humiliated, he is also grateful to the people who offered him this life-saving device.
Now here we go. The first guy was bitter, uncomfortable and humiliated because he was told that this cloak of "Jesus" would make life easier. He'd have joy, peace, fulfillment and inner happiness. But when the high is gone and things start to suck, he begins to feel resentment towards the bearers of this so-called good news. And now we have the "back-slider". The other dude wears this "good news" because he knows what he's being saved from. He knows that the fact of being saved from certain death is way more valuable, more important... than comfort, than what other people think about him.
It's not about being forgiven and let go. It's about giving your life up. Abandoning all for it all. Being in right standing with God. Which is essentially righteousness.
Because God is so merciful, we can be saved. But he is righteous. Would a good judge tell a man who stole $50,000 that he could just go because he was feeling "forgiving" that day? Would you have any respect for that judge? But say someone you don't even know comes in and pays your debt. You'd be free to go. Powerful. That's Jesus. He paid for our sins. I've been a "christian" for 15 years and my mind is just now being blown away by that. And he did it for all of us. Wow. Powerful. Oh Glory.
"The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him."
Tonight at House Gathering, we were discussing how we offer "non-christians" the peace, love, joy, fulfillment and everlasting happiness. Then when the find out it's not all about that, their emotions, we have the ever-popular back-slider. By appealing to their emotions, by just trying to offer them a better "ride", they aren't too thrilled with the outcome. The guys used this analogy.
Imagine 2 passengers on an airplane. The first passenger is handed a parachute and told to put it on because it'll make his trip more enjoyable. Soon he finds that he cannot sit upright and people are laughing at him. He then becomes bitter at the people who gave him this parachute and thus throws off his parachute. Now the second passenger is also handed a parachute. He is told that at any moment he will have to jump from the plane and the parachute will save his life. Now not only does he not care about being uncomfortable or humiliated, he is also grateful to the people who offered him this life-saving device.
Now here we go. The first guy was bitter, uncomfortable and humiliated because he was told that this cloak of "Jesus" would make life easier. He'd have joy, peace, fulfillment and inner happiness. But when the high is gone and things start to suck, he begins to feel resentment towards the bearers of this so-called good news. And now we have the "back-slider". The other dude wears this "good news" because he knows what he's being saved from. He knows that the fact of being saved from certain death is way more valuable, more important... than comfort, than what other people think about him.
It's not about being forgiven and let go. It's about giving your life up. Abandoning all for it all. Being in right standing with God. Which is essentially righteousness.
Because God is so merciful, we can be saved. But he is righteous. Would a good judge tell a man who stole $50,000 that he could just go because he was feeling "forgiving" that day? Would you have any respect for that judge? But say someone you don't even know comes in and pays your debt. You'd be free to go. Powerful. That's Jesus. He paid for our sins. I've been a "christian" for 15 years and my mind is just now being blown away by that. And he did it for all of us. Wow. Powerful. Oh Glory.
posted by Jocelyn @ 1:37 AM
1 Comments:
At March 31, 2006 11:50 AM,
Dawn said…
wow...awesome post. i really enjoyed that analogy! So many people are cought up in the emotions part of it... and when they no longer 'feel' God the turn away~ We are called to live a life of worship because God is God and worthy of it... not just because we feel like it! Be blessed!
p.s. if u are wondering who this is, im Dawn... i know people that you know~
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