Do It Anyway

Lately I have been trying to work out more. For the past year the thought of exercise alone has left me tired. I have the "gift of laziness." It is a natural talent that hasn't taken much effort to develop just a lot of time. I was working out yesterday with a friend, and as we were walking around the track. I noticed my sneaker-laces were untied. I didn't feel like taking care of it right away because again I am lazy. Bending over, reaching for my laces, tying them, getting up...really is quite an effort (mostly sarcastic, slightly serious). Well several older women at the gym didn't know that I knew my shoelaces were untied, and that I planned to keep them that way for a while. Probably 4 ladies in a row felt the need to tell me my laces were untied. They didn't know me, but they were afraid I would trip and fall. At the time I thought it was funny how many ladies stopped to tell me about my sneaker-laces. I started to make predictions in my mind about who would comment next. After a couple of minutes I decided it would probably be a smart idea to bend down and tie my sneakers.

I am not big into hyper-spirtualizing things. However, I do believe that God uses common things to reveal Himself. After all He has chosen humans made of dust and dirt to bear His holy image. I love how Jesus taught deep truths through stories. For me it makes the lesson sink further into me, and I remember it more often. 

I began thinking about my untied laces and the ladies who told me about them. As Christ-followers we have a responsibility to tell others about their need for Christ. They may already know their need, but it isn't on their agenda to do anything about it for some time. They want to "live" their lives first, and then come to God "later." We are still supposed to speak with His love and most importantly live in His love. You may be seen as annoying or laughable in this world for speaking the truth to someone in kindness. Do it anyway.

Annoying Know-It-Alls aka Humans

 My pastor talked about an interview he saw on television of Mark Driscoll. Piers Morgan suggested modernizing the Word of God and removing what has become “irrelevant” in our day and age, such as the mention of homosexuality being sinful. Why do we desire to change what we struggle over?  We hate recognizing the limitations of our understanding. We desire to change God to our image rather than let Him mold us in His image. We are so afraid that we cannot comprehend the power and reasoning of God in the Bible, so we would rather remove what we cannot understand with our own human abilities. We project our failings and limitations onto Him. Instead of wrestling and struggling with God over things, bringing it to Him, we erase the questionable material. We label such texts in the Bible as “unworthy,” “outdated,” and “impractical.” It reminds me of a book I had to read in high school called Fahrenheit 451. In that novel books are outlawed. Instead the television ruled the day and age. Sound familiar?

I am struggling with God over certain passages of scripture, but having them erased is not an option. I do not fully understand them and a part of me fears them, but that is okay. That is not abnormal. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). His ways are not my ways, and His thoughts are not my thoughts. He is far above me, and with my mind I will never fully understand. This is where faith comes into play. We cannot please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). I have to trust that His intentions are good, and I do. Jesus allowed Himself to be put on a cross because of His great love for us. Nothing but the greatest, most passionate love could endure such suffering. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  

To take out one word of the Bible says that a mistake was made, and God doesn’t and won’t make any mistakes. People make mistakes; we fail and fall short (Romans 3:23). He is blameless, and His Word is blameless. God cannot be separated from His Word because He is His Word (John 1:1). It needs to be made clear. We can NEVER be equal with God.