By Marchesa Ababa on July 20th, 2006
i was reading an article in Discipleship Journal that dealt with the many facets of God- the different faces He allows different people to see of himself, depending on how He wants to be revealed to that person. We each must be united to learn from each other more about who God is, because not one can really simply say that he/she knows everything about Him, NOT one. God reveals himself differently, aside from of course the obvious- Savior and Lord.
With the infinite dimensions of God, we cannot just pick and choose who God is for our own convenience. We cannot say He is a loving God and deny His hand that wields justice. We cannot claim He is a forgiving God without acknowledging His judgement. We cannot say He is only giving without knowing He can take away. God is God, and His reasons for being cannot be understood by finite minds, thinking we alone can encapsulate Him and challenge Him, saying that He is of contradicting nature.
In our lifestyle, coming into the life of Christianity, following Christ, we also cannot choose who Jesus is to us. He cannot be our savior without being Lord of our lives. We cannot dare to dance in His grace without also acknowledging His laws. I struggle myself with this: that I cannot keep living sinfully because I am covered by grace, and I cannot live legalistically because I am covered by grace.
Although I cannot attain heaven by my works, by being good, and keeping His laws, I know I cannot live a lifestyle that keeps on doing bad.
King David said in Psalms 18:21-22, “For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not turned from my God to follow evil. For all his laws are constantly before me; I have never abandoned his principles.”
When I was young, I always thought King David was a shady dude, because despite all his scheming and sinning, he was really known as a man after God’s heart, and was also described as a man that God genuinely “delighted” in (18:19)…But what I’ve learned through the years is that God doesn’t want your works as much as He wants your heart. Although King David had lists of offenses, he had a contrite heart, and had a heart that longed to really please God. Even though He knew God delighted in him, he lived to keep God’s laws.
One of the youth said to me, “you have to remind me why I shouldn’t do those things,” and I responded, “because God said so.” She honestly responded, “i need something more than that,” so here goes: Do good, not for the act of just doing so, but do good because you love Him. He’d rather want the work in your heart than the work of your hands. But the work in your heart is revealed through the work of your hands. See, God doesn’t want offerings and sacrifices when our hearts are far from him, but He also says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” (john 8:31). Works are useless without your heart, and your heart is revealed through your works. By grace, we are free indeed, but we abuse that grace when we see God and respond in denial to His laws.
Living with the title “Christian” is always difficult. We can’t see it as a life on a tightrope, and we also can’t see it as a perpetual field. We need to live a life that reflects that God is the God of grace and the God of laws.
i found this image very fitting:
further reading:
“Seeing More of God”- David Hazard
Discipleship Journal Is.151 Share this Devotion:
