“The truth is that Jesus didn’t come to raise the bar.”

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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