Saturday Spiritual Uplift - Out of our Control

Out of our Control 

For the first time in my life I was driving a brand new car. We had leased a minivan, cherry red, one of my favorite colors, and I was returning from errands while my mom watched the kids for me. I waited to turn left on a four-lane road with no left turn lane. 

A minivan, driving the opposite direction crossed the line, careening toward me. My first thought was wondering if he thought he could turn left into the house on the right side of the street. Where did he think he was going? Barely having time to breathe a prayer for help, I held tight to the steering wheel, watching as the driver ploughed into the front end of my car, crushing the front bumper and the hood. The airbag inflated, then popped, skinning my arm. Other than that minor injury and the stress being hit head on caused, I walked away unscathed. God had protected me during an accident I hadn’t caused and couldn’t prevent.

I’m sharing this story, because so many God fearing parents today, myself included, have been watching some of their children take a path away from God. Some of these young people are making choices, which may cause irrevocable damage to their lives, others will live through the consequences that could have been avoided, but still be hurt by them. For many of us, it’s like watching a car wreck waiting to happen. We can do nothing in our own power to change it. We can cling to the Lord and pray, we can encourage each other with His word and wait on Him, while finding what we can be thankful for.

That day long ago, when I walked away from that demolished car, God woke me up to how fragile my life was. Yet he protected me through it and my children had been safe at home. The car had been stationary, so there was probably less damage due to a lesser impact than if I'd been moving.

Though we can’t always see it, the Lord is working and He is waiting, with even a deeper love for our children, for them to come back. He is with you as you wait on the road with the ring and the robe and the hug, for your prodigal to return.

In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food

enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’

 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ (Luke 15:10-24, NLT)

Saturday Spiritual Uplift

A Debt Paid in Full

Mounting national debt. Over a trillion dollars worth owed to China. A slow-growing economy. Thirty years ago, who would have ever thought this could be possible in the U.S.? No, I’m not getting political here, only pointing out that as the national debt surpasses $17 trillion, the average citizen finds it hard to imagine how we will ever repay that debt--and downright depressing.

Numerous radio commercials and online ads will tell you the end of the world is coming . . . or practically. They say their book or CD has the answer to avoid the approaching economic cataclysm. You pay the author or speaker a small, reasonable amount and they’ll give you a foolproof method for becoming rich and avoiding tragedy. Really? Do you think any of those offers come with an ironclad guarantee? Absolutely not!

There’s only one debt ever paid in full with an eternal guarantee! As we went over this in Bible study on Thursday, I thought about how unlike the national debt, Jesus’ provision for His people is. Jesus’ death on the cross, as a perfect sacrifice for our sin, paid our debt in full! We only have to humble ourselves and realize there’s nothing we as humans can do to earn salvation for ourselves. Jesus sealed the deal by proving He could overcome death by His resurrection power.

Jesus would rather that none would perish. He would rather prepare a heavenly home for you to live with Him in eternity, because of His mercy and grace, rather than owe a debt you can't pay and be judged on that basis. However, you have to trust in Him and receive this gift. Unlike a credit card, His gift can’t be cut up. Unlike cash, it can never be devalued. But you can throw away the chance of a lifetime and eternity by not receiving this precious gift.

The thought that my sin has been forgiven and its debt settled for all eternity humbles me. That Jesus would love me before I loved Him and provide me with this security makes me very thankful for what I don't deserve. And yet, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to comprehend just how precious it really all is.

Romans 3:22-28 (NLT) tells us about our shortcomings and the hope we are given through Christ:

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

(Image of U.S. currency in the public domain. Found at Wikimedia Commons.)