A Trip Back to the Cross

Google Images
Seasonal consumers of religion.

At the risk of sounding harsh, a lot of those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus who are exactly that—seasonal consumers of religion. We come and go when it's convenient and when something piques our interest in the program of the church. We turn up when we can't find anything better to do. We blame the pace of the rest of our lives on our lack of attention to what needs to be THE priority of life. We are religious but we are not very spiritual. We treat Grace cheaply.*

It's a good thing God doesn't operate that way.

I was struck this morning by David's response to God as we see it in 1 Chronicles 21. He did a "no-no" (21:6, 7) and God gave him a choice of punishments—that in itself is significant and shows us the high regard God had for David in spite of his sin. David chose to submit to God's hand as the instrument of punishment (21:13) rather than subject himself to the punishment men would bring on him.

When David begged for mercy, the Lord granted his request (21:17). In gratitude for that mercy, David went out to build an altar at the spot where the angel of the Lord had been withdrawn from his deadly task. The land belonged to Araunah, a man who was more than willing to give the king the land on which David wanted to build the altar. David's words are significant: "But King David replied, 'No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing'" (21:24, NIV).

David recognized just how merciful God had been and the depth of his gratitude would not permit him to give back cheap thanks to God.

Perhaps we don't understand just what God did for us in sending His Son to take our judgment upon Himself. Perhaps we don't appreciate our salvation and perhaps that lack of appreciate has caused us to offer cheap thanks, gratitude that costs us nothing.

Perhaps we need a trip back to the cross.

* For more on abusing grace, read http://articles.faithwriters.com/reprint-article-details.php?article=7146 

Comments

  1. Cindy10 July 2012 at 09:25

    Yes Lynda! It reminds me of the line- "When I survey the wondrous cross- on which the Prince of Glory died" I need to daily SURVEY the wonderful, amazing, unbelievable, mind-boggling, lengths from which God procured me! If we truly understood- we could never abuse His grace!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Staying Put and Moving On

Genesis 23-26 Among the many interesting aspects of these chapters is an incident that jumps out at me. This year I’m looking at my Scripture readings in the light of changes, adjustments, course corrections that have to be made, and what the Scriptures say about them. Abraham had died. Isaac was living in Gerar under the watchful eye of Abimelech. God blessed Isaac to the point that there simply wasn't room for him and all that he had gained to lived peaceable among the Philistines. There were issues of envy which resulted in some nasty events: “ So all the wells that his father’s servant had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth ” —Genesis 26:15. Abimelech asked Isaac to move a little farther away to prevent any more conflict. Isaac did what he was asked and moved, reopening the wells that the Philistines had stopped up when his father was alive—presumably the result of a different generation of envious neighbours at Abraham’s
Read more

The Case of the Pilfering Peacock

Image
Such little things under ordinary circumstances: a few pots of lettuce and a little spinach. But in a country like Pakistan, and in the heart of the Sindh, anything resembling salad is as hard to find as hen’s teeth; well, in this case, peacock’s teeth. My friend, Hannah, is a retired missionary nurse. Actually she became a retreaded missionary nurse, having returned to Pakistan several times several times after retirement to fill a desperate need for nursing staff at the hospital she first went to serve in back in the 1960s.   A wall surrounds the hospital. On the grounds are the homes of the medical staff and some of the Pakistani people who work at the facility. It also seems to be the favourite place for the peacocks from the local Temple to hang out.    It had to be the lettuce and the spinach that attracted them. When she first noticed the peacocks, Hannah admired their beauty—until she noticed that they were lunching on the spinach. She tried to shoo them away. “Persistent” seem
Read more

Worry Walks Alone

Somewhere along the way I picked up a little card that still hangs on the bulletin board above my desk. It says: "Worry slanders every promise in the Word of God." Naturally it came to mind this morning as I read my verse for the day. "Then Jesus said to his disciples: 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes" —Luke 12:22, 23. (And these verses come attached to yesterday's verse on being careful about greed.) Another image comes to mind. As I watched the news yesterday, several people cheated of their life savings by Bernie Madoff, were being interviewed. One woman in particular stood out. She said that, thanks to Madoff, she no longer has the means to feed herself or to buy medicine. Basically she is now destitute. Is she worried? Who wouldn't be? Matthew includes the teaching of these verses in the famous Sermon on the Mount, j
Read more