AN INVITATION FROM OUR FATHER
"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord." Isa. 1:18, R.S.V.
We all have heard the old adage "Do as I say not as I do!" You know how it goes. Mom yells at the kids, "Pick up your room! I won't have you turn my house into a pigsty!" Take a peek into her room, however, and you'll see an almost unbelievable mess. "Don't be late for supper!" admonishes Dad, who turns up an hour late himself.
Most of us are conditioned from our youth to expect a certain amount of duplicity from our parents. We know they mean well, but reality lies somewhere else. The problem is that we tend to transfer such thinking to our relationship with our heavenly Parent. We are told, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give a reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15, N.I.V.). But we suspect that God doesn't have to have a reason for what He does. After all, He is God!
Here's good news: God lives by the same rules that He asks us to. The law that He desires to write in our hearts also describes His character! He asks us to live accountably and reasonably even as He Himself does. Only this wayward planet is out of step with the rest of the universe. Only sin-darkened hearts perceive God as arbitrary and power-wielding. And so, in keeping with His nature, the Sovereign God invites us: "Come now, let us reason together."
Our heavenly Parent doesn't yell at us, "Clean up your life!" He says, "Let Me show you the best way to live!" And His admonitions are ever coupled with His promise to empower. "Do as I do!" He encourages us, "I'll help you!" In the process we begin to know Him. Gradually we may become even more excited about His friendship than we are about all the wonderful things we are learning. No longer do we have to see His counsel as arbitrary requirements. We may gladly receive it as the best information available--and as a chance to become better acquainted with our magnificent God!
I'm glad that God has surrounded us with His loving acceptance so that we may move forward unhindered by the fear of failure. Failure is just not a word in the vocabulary between friends. When things go wrong, friends look for answers as they keep reasoning things out--together.
"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord." Isa. 1:18, R.S.V.
We all have heard the old adage "Do as I say not as I do!" You know how it goes. Mom yells at the kids, "Pick up your room! I won't have you turn my house into a pigsty!" Take a peek into her room, however, and you'll see an almost unbelievable mess. "Don't be late for supper!" admonishes Dad, who turns up an hour late himself.
Most of us are conditioned from our youth to expect a certain amount of duplicity from our parents. We know they mean well, but reality lies somewhere else. The problem is that we tend to transfer such thinking to our relationship with our heavenly Parent. We are told, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give a reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15, N.I.V.). But we suspect that God doesn't have to have a reason for what He does. After all, He is God!
Here's good news: God lives by the same rules that He asks us to. The law that He desires to write in our hearts also describes His character! He asks us to live accountably and reasonably even as He Himself does. Only this wayward planet is out of step with the rest of the universe. Only sin-darkened hearts perceive God as arbitrary and power-wielding. And so, in keeping with His nature, the Sovereign God invites us: "Come now, let us reason together."
Our heavenly Parent doesn't yell at us, "Clean up your life!" He says, "Let Me show you the best way to live!" And His admonitions are ever coupled with His promise to empower. "Do as I do!" He encourages us, "I'll help you!" In the process we begin to know Him. Gradually we may become even more excited about His friendship than we are about all the wonderful things we are learning. No longer do we have to see His counsel as arbitrary requirements. We may gladly receive it as the best information available--and as a chance to become better acquainted with our magnificent God!
I'm glad that God has surrounded us with His loving acceptance so that we may move forward unhindered by the fear of failure. Failure is just not a word in the vocabulary between friends. When things go wrong, friends look for answers as they keep reasoning things out--together.
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