What Will Your Response Be?

Will you also go away? John 6:67

What do you think? Matthew 21:28

          What will your response be to the gift God gave you in his son, Jesus Christ?  It is never too late to respond to God, to begin a relationship with him or to deepen the one you already have.  He would be delighted!

          God created us in his image and likeness which means we have intellect, reason, and a capacity to choose good, to choose Love (which say, a squirrel does not…).  We are created to love and be loved in intimate communion with our creator!  That was the original plan, in the Garden, but it went awry when sin entered.  Once Adam and Eve chose sin over closeness with God (an allegory for what we basically do every day) the relationship was damaged.  At first, it was damaged beyond repair.  They were cast out of the garden. Humans, with their newfound fallen nature due to sin, couldn’t break the cycle of sin themselves and ended up enslaved to their sinful ways. I think we have all experienced the “addiction” to sin whether it is big, mortal sin, or small, venial sins.  God didn’t condemn us; we turned away and we still do today.  In the economy of justice, we humans owe God a debt we cannot repay. We cannot heal the broken relationship without help from God. That is where Jesus comes in.  He steps into our humanity, relates to us, teaches us and the greatest of all, builds the bridge back to God so we can be in communion with him again. Jesus takes on all the sins for all people for all time. Our sin is heaped on his shoulders on the cross and our Savior pays the price so we can be reconciled to God. 

          God and mortal sin don’t coexist in the same heart.  Small, venial sins cloud our vision and give us a faulty connection to God, but big, mortal sin destroys our relationship with God.  We turn away by our sins and due to His respect for our free will, He lets us choose to go.  If we had no free will, we would be puppets. Puppets don’t choose love. They are manipulated and totally controlled by their master.  Love isn’t authentic if it is not freely given.  We have free will to choose good, to choose Love, to choose God but he leaves the decision to us!  He created us in his image, so the deepest recesses of our hearts yearn for our creator. We yearn for the holy, we yearn for authentic love.  He constantly tugs at our hearts and our minds, thirsting for our love and attention. Does he need us? NO. Does he want a relationship with us? YES!  He wants one so badly he is willing to die for us, so we can freely come to him and receive his mercy and his grace!

          For example: what if you had one too many glasses of wine and hit and killed a pedestrian with your car. You are totally at fault. You are accused of manslaughter and convicted and put in jail for life.  You are captive. You have no way of getting out of jail and getting your life back. You must “pay the debt” you owe to society for your sins.  That is where we were after the Garden of Eden allegorically.  Jesus steps in and says, I’ll take your place in jail. I’ll sacrifice my life so you can have your life back. I’ll forgive you for your sins. You can now live a full and happy and loving life, no longer “captive” to sinful ways, in communion with my Father.  That is the Cross.  Jesus paid the debt we could not pay for our sins once and for all.  He took our place. That is Jesus’ gift to each one of us.  How do you respond to this gift in your heart and in your life?

          God will never abandon you. He would respect your decision if you chose to abandon him and will let you suffer the consequences too.  But he will NEVER stop trying to tug you back into communion with him. He loves you too much.  If you stop praying and turn away from God, you set yourself up as an easy target for sin and the evil one.  Keep God and his grace in your corner!!!  His mercy is deep and wide and infinite if you turn back to him and try again and again and again.  He is infinitely patience with us, more patient than we are with ourselves. 

          What is your response to this gift...?  Will you respond to Jesus with gratitude, humility, openness, faith in his truths, hope in his promises?  Will you glorify God with your life?  Or are you too busy? Are you too prideful? Are you full of excuses?  I ask myself these types of questions in my quiet, ponderings time.  I think deeply about my motives, my grudges, my sins, my thoughts, and my words.  Are they the response Jesus is hoping for from me? Rest assured that Jesus will meet you right where you are in your spiritual journey.  He will give you his grace and his peace if you turn to him in your heart!  Start deepening your relationship with Jesus, loving Him, and loving your neighbor right now.  Prayer, a true relationship with Jesus, is the place to begin responding to the gracious and gratuitous gift of HIS Cross.

 

Use Ponderings Cards to Begin Your Daily Prayer

 Scripture Verses:

…for the LORD delights in you.  Isaiah 62:4

I thirst.  John 19:28

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

He will speak peace to those who turn to him in their hearts. Psalm 85:8

We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11

 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Genesis 1:26

 You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you...Jeremiah 29:13-14

 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me an gave himself for me. Galatians 5:20

 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10

 I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  John 10:10

 …the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ.   Romans 6:23

 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.  John 15:11

 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  John 15:12-13

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  Galatians 5:13-14