Friday, September 17, 2010
God Myth #4: Grace & Consequence. “Oh to grace, how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be…teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love!” There’s something about the grace of God that blows our minds. We just can’t seem to wrap our heads around the fact that God would love us enough to send His only Son Jesus to pay for our sin – to be our replacement. But that’s exactly what He did. That’s the nature of grace.
However, the sad truth is that sometimes we use “the grace of God as a license to sin,” as Paul wrote in the New Testament. We seem to think that because we’ve received the unmerited, unearned favor of God through what Jesus did, that we can somehow get away with sin now. We almost live as though there are no consequences anymore. But that’s just not the way it works.
Paul wrote to the Galatians that “whatever a man sows, that shall He also reap.” He said that “God is not mocked.” He was talking to church people – to those who had trusted Christ. What he was saying was simple: if you sow to the flesh, you’ll reap corruption and negative consequences. If you sow to the Spirit, you’ll reap life. This rule of life is so very true, even in the year 2010 for us.
If I plant a squash seed, I expect to get a squash plant. If I plant a watermelon seed, I expect to get a watermelon plant. That’s the universal law of sowing and reaping – you get what you sow, and you always get more than you sow as well.
If my life is spent sowing to the flesh, doing what feels good, yet I know it goes against what He’s called me to and called me from, I’ll reap bad consequences. And the reaping will be greater than the sowing – it’s just the way it works. May we never buy the lie of the enemy that so long as nobody knows it’s okay. God knows, and He’s the One that sends the harvest, whether good or bad.
“Those who the Lord loves, He chastens.” Just like a good parent disciplines their child to teach them the best way to live, so God disciplines us to keep us from falling back into the life of sin that will hurt, and even kill us. So today, take note of what kind of seeds you’re planting with your life. Because when the harvest starts coming in, it’s so painful to see a life wasted on ourselves, instead of invested in the things of God.
I pray that though my sins are forgiven by Him, I never again, even for a moment, take for granted the grace of God upon my life. My eternity is sealed, but this life can still bring about consequences for my choices.
May all our seeds sprout with life, and may our harvest be plentiful and kingdom filled.
That’s just a thought, and I welcome yours.
Until next time,
Blake
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A Thought from Blake 