The blessing of the
Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.
When we were children, we are given a lot of things that we
did not earn. Daily we were provided with many of the basic necessities of life…food,
water, shelter, and clothing…and on top of that, we were also provided with what
could be described as luxuries like entertainment, air conditioning, electricity,
and even quality education. Yet as children, we had absolutely no right in
receiving those gifts. We didn’t have jobs that brought home a paycheck each
week that allowed us to lay down some bills to pay for things like food and shelter,
much less video games and sports leagues. And even if we tried, as children, we
could not provide the value necessary to even secure a job. Therefore we stood
completely dependent on our parents. It was our parents, not us children, that secured
the jobs and brought home the bacon each week. They provided where we could not.
And they did it simply out of love…because they loved us children. As we aged
out of the dependent years and became adults, we developed the skills and
abilities to provide value in the world and started bringing home our own
bacon. We were no longer dependent on another to provide for the necessities,
and luxuries, in our lives. Yet despite our great independence, we all still
remain completely incompetent and dependent in one aspect of our lives. No
matter how hard we work, how high we climb, or how much good we try to do in this
life, not a single one of us can obtain our rescue from death. Not a one of us has
the ability to defeat the sin in our lives and pay the bill to God for all the times
that we broke his Law. When it comes to our spiritual salvation, if we stand apart
from Christ, we are infants, completely vulnerable, dependent, and incapable of
doing anything to make things right. We simply cannot pay enough, dig enough,
sweat enough, lift enough, explain enough, study enough, or speak enough to
make things right between us and God. The only way that reconciliation can be achieved
is through Christ…through the painful toil that Christ endured on our behalf.
It is only through our deep belief that Christ died on the cross for OUR sins
and rose to life that we can be seen before God as holy, blameless, and clean. Proverbs
10:12 captures it well, “…but love covers
over all wrongs”. Christ’s love for each of us lead him to the cross. His love
for each of us kept him on that cross. His love for each of us covered over all
the wrong that we have done in our lives, purchasing the great wealth of
salvation that we alone are incapable of securing. So today, as humbled, dependent
children of God, may we pause to give thanks to God for the gift of Jesus…for
the gift of unjustified grace…and for a loving God that cares deeply for his
dependent children! To God alone be the glory!
No comments:
Post a Comment