A thought by
Larry Osborne, (2009-04-04) from his book, Accidental Pharisees: Avoiding Pride, Exclusivity, and the Other Dangers of Overzealous Faith
(Kindle Locations 958-959). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click
on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book)
Larry goes
on, “He didn’t come to weed out the losers. He came to turn losers, laggards,
and enemies into full-on sons and daughters of God.”
That is so
good to hear. That is really good news.
He then
says, “He will judge, and it won’t be pretty when he does. But he prefers to
pursue and to forgive. That’s why he cried out on the cross, ‘Father, forgive
them, they do not know what they do.’ That’s why he warned the Laodiceans one
last time. That’s why he still hasn’t come back in fiery judgment. Jesus is not
slow in keeping his promise to return and judge. He’s patient. He doesn’t want
any to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. And that includes the hard-core sinner, the
lukewarm, and even so-called consumer Christians. That’s why I find our current
disdain for the less-than-fully-committed so perplexing. I think Jesus does
too.”
And I’m so
glad that he is so patient. I have a lot
of friends and some family who haven’t found how Jesus can truly make a difference
in their life. They are going through
life making choices with their own ability.
They haven’t found that as the psalmist says, “The Lord watches over the
path of the godly.” No that doesn’t mean
he is ready to zap us when we make a mistake it means he is ready to show us
and protect us and prod us and accept us even when we do make a mistake. I love living with the confidence that he is
there watching over me. And I mean that
in a positive way.
So are you
living with that confidence?
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