But Yahweh said to Samuel, you must not look at his appearance and at the loftiness of his stature, for I have rejected him. For not as a human sees, does the One, Elohim, see. A human sees the visible appearance, yet Yahweh sees into the heart.
1 Samuel 16: 7, Concordant Old Testament
A lot has been said as to how we feel when we fall short and miss the mark. We feel defeated and rejected by many around us. Contrary to popular belief, I've been in those shoes before. I remember well the lectures from seemingly well meaning Christian brothers in church after the revelation that I had once again fallen victim to whatever it was the world had to offer. Many would tell me things about God that made me cringe. God was angry. God was ignoring me. All of this because I somehow had not measured up to His holy standard. Then again, who can? The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 3 that ALL have sinned and fallen short {Romans 3:23}. Funny thing, though, I rarely heard that verse preached by my Christian brethren as they lectured me about my latest misgiving. For to do so would have forced them into the spotlight as well, and they weren't about that. This was the attitude which I carried with me inside and outside of the church. Every time I would stumble, it was like I could almost feel the Lords stare of disapproval upon me. This was how I viewed God. A stern and short tempered overseer. Yet never once did I take the chance to see how it is that God saw me. How was it that God looked upon me in those moments where I wept because I had let Him down once again? How many more chances would He give me until He was done with me forever? How many more lectures could I look forward to from seemingly well meaning brothers in the faith? One day, out of curiosity, I began to search for the answers to my questions. How does God see me? Is He really the angry ogre I was told about? Well, it turns out that I had been misled by many in the church. Whenever I would fall, it was God who was there ready to receive me to Himself once again. Not as a condemned sinner, but as His loved child {1 John 3:1}. This is how I looked through my Fathers eyes.
Who rouses Him from among the dead, you also being dead to the offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He vivifies us together jointly with Him, dealing graciously with all our offenses, erasing the handwriting of the decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and has taken it away out of the midst, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2: 13-14, Concordant New Testament
One of my all time favorite parables of Jesus is of the prodigal son. I believe that this story illustrates all too well the love which God has for His children. This mans son took his fathers inheritance and squandered it on simple pleasures in the big city (think Las Vegas or New York of the day). Eventually, his money gone, the young man finds himself in need of work. He agrees to work feeding the pigs of a local farmer, which must have been quite the reality check for this son of a wealthy man. Finally, fed up with his lot in life, the young man decides that he will return home, apologize to his father for his wayward ways, and seek a job as his servant. Yet, we're told that even when his son was far off, his father saw him returning and ran to him and kissed him {Luke 15:20}. This is the love which our heavenly Father has for us! I like to think that perhaps Jesus perceived there were some listening that day who had been taught a wrong idea about God. We know that the scribes and Pharisees of His day were big on religion. Were there more than a few listening to Jesus that day thinking that they were being punished by the Lord? Perhaps. But then Jesus proceeds to tell the world of the true nature of the Father. Not as a mean overseer, but as a loving Father who only desires to be united with His children {John 17:21}. When we began to see God as He sees us, we get a closer look at the love He has for us.
He who is not loving knew not God, for God is love.
1 John 4: 8, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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