“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, but walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle.”
-Brennan Manning
Those are hard words, but unfortunately they are true of every one of us from time to time, especially me. I call myself one of His, and yet every day I do things He can’t stand.
I’m a sinner like everyone else. The only thing that saves me is the blood of Jesus which was shed on a cross so many years ago when He died on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Every last one of them, so that I (and you if you want) could be in a relationship with Him. Did I deserve it? Certainly not. I deserve death for all the crazy stuff I pull off every day. I know He doesn’t like it, and yet these things still trip me up. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. And you’d think if one were in a relationship this serious (and it is serious, my whole salvation is on the line here.) then that person would not do things that displease the other person.
And yet it still happens….Sin so easily trips me up. It’s only by Grace that I’m still here today and that God has not gotten completely fed up with me.
I am weak and I need His help every minute.
BUT
He is strong, and He’s willing to help me (and you, if you want to) become holy as He is holy. He’s willing to do that over our whole lives.
Sometimes I just wish sanctification was a faster process. As I grow in knowing my Savior, I realize more and more all the things I do that displease him. How much patience He must have to put up with me at all. I want to be pleasing to him…preferably now, but there’s so much more in me that I need to let Him fix.
I suppose if He has so much patience to put up with me, then I should be patient as He, over the course of my life, makes me into the better version of me that He originally intended.
I look forward to the time when Jesus comes back to make all things new…when sin will no longer trip us up…ever.
This is where my thoughts are tonight.