Romans 8:16 For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God’s children. I like the imagery here. First, the Holy Spirit speaks deep inside us. It’s not a surface whisper that comes and goes easily. He’s deep inside, speaking from the core of our beings. And second, he doesn’t whisper just anything. He tells us we are God’s children. And since God created that parent-child relationship, He loves us way more than I could ever love my two little ones… which is an awful lot! I think being a mommy has made me realize a lot about God’s love for me. And even though I know and can, somewhat, understand God’s love for me as His child, I’m constantly forgetting it. Anyhow, I loved those two things – about how the Holy Spirit isn’t some surface visitor; rather he’s deep inside. And He constantly reminds us of who we are and how much we are loved (not what we’ve done wrong and not that we’re anything other than greatly loved). I like it.
Romans 6:11 So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus. Today’s my first day back at work/school after 2 beautiful and wonderful weeks of vacation. Man! I’m so not ready for this! And of course, my time this morning is all about sin and forgiveness and the role they play in our lives. Heavy stuff for my mind this early and this distractable. Romans 6 starts with that famous question, “should I keep sinning so that God can show his mercy and forgiveness through that? Should I sin more so I can be forgiven more?” That’s kind of like asking if you should cut yourself to get a bandaid (granted God’s forgiveness is more like a healing miracle than a bandaid, but hopefully that makes the point of how silly that question is). Paul goes on to talk about how Jesus conquered death and sin and since we believe in Him and have new life through Him we no longer are subjected to continually doing the wrong thing. Does that mean that we’ll be perfect? No. But since we are no longer required to do what sin tells us to, we can live in a way that brings glory to God through our love and kindness. And if you’re like me at all, you’re thinking “that’s a tall order! I make mistakes all the time!” Yup. You’re human, too (I hope, unless you’re a robot or strangely intelligent something else). But its okay, that’s why we have forgiveness. And, the more we get to know God, the more able we are to live like Him and act in a way that reflects His mercy, grace, and love. And I think that’s the point of it all.
Psalm 26:3 For I am constantly aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth. I think it’s pretty amazing that David could say this! I’m not sure I could. I’d like to, but I’m not sure I’d be telling the whole truth… Constantly is a pretty big word. This post by Skip Moen kind of goes along with that idea that I have no idea how to be all the things God has for me, and even less idea how incredible God really is: enjoy!
Luke 2:23 The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord.” In the Old Testament, according to the Law, the firstborn son had to be dedicated to the Lord. It was basically a tithe of your family. I don’t know if it was described that way, but it was very much similar to the the tithe. It came from the first fruits of the harvest, in this case the first child of the family. How very fitting that Jesus was this tithe (or maybe gift would be a better word). He would be that tithe in every sense of the word, even down to His death on the cross as a sacrifice. He was dedicated to the Lord, and He would spend several years prior to His death telling Israel about the Lord and what He was truly like. And, like all tithes, He was sacrificed, given away. But it wasn’t us giving to God, it was God giving to us. In the same way that Jesus was Mary’s first born and dedicated to the Lord, Jesus was also God’s first and only Son who was dedicated to the Lord. In our selfishness and pride, we would have kept Him among us because we didn’t understand the full weight of our sin. But in God’s love and humility, He sacrificed His Son, His tithe, His gift, for us, to give us a new gift of forgiveness and hope. Merry Christmas!
Matthew 10:37 If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. This is a difficult verse for me. I want to love God more than anything. But He’s so ephemeral that it’s hard to love Him the way I should. My children are here, and I can hug them and kiss on them. They’re physically present, and it’s easy to love them when I can see them. It’s so much harder to love God more because I can’t physically touch or see Him. Heaven knows, I want to. There have been times when I felt Him physically and was overwhelmed in His presence, when I learned that I do love Him more than I can say. But having children and loving them so tremendously makes me question the love I show to God… especially in light of this verse. I hope that God considers my heart and knows that I do want to love Him first and foremost, but that I don’t really know how.
Matthew 6:8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! My favorite word here is BEFORE. He knows before we ask anything. The verse before this says that we don’t have to say the same words or make the same request over and over and over (although the woman who was persistent later on was rewarded with healing) because God already knows what we need. Now, another important word is the word NEED. It’s not about what we want. It’s about what we need. So, if you want that new car but don’t really need it, that’s a different matter. But God knows that we need food and we need shelter and we need to be healthy to work and take care of our families. He knows we need Him, whether we’ll admit it or not, too. I think it’s reassuring that God’s got it covered. It doesn’t hurt to ask, but I know I forget that God already has my back and knows these things, so I don’t have to beg. It’s like with my kids. I know what they need, for the most part, and I’m happy to give them what they need. They don’t get everything they want because, frankly, playing with the scissors or chewing on the electronics is not safe. And sometimes they don’t get what they want or need because it’s not ready yet. For example, at night I make them chicken fingers (yes, it’s sad, but my oldest won’t eat anything else, and I refuse to starve him into eating), and it’s really hard for them to wait. But I can’t serve them frozen chicken. So, yes, they need to eat, but they do have to wait until it’s ready. It’s the same way in life. Sometimes those things we need aren’t “ready” yet and that’s why we don’t get them right away when we want them. And sometimes the things we want aren’t safe so we don’t get them at all… but if God is anything like me, maybe He’ll try a redirect and give you something else that you can have instead! Who knew being a child of God was so much like being a mom!
Hosea 1-2 God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute so he can be a living example of what Israel had done to God. God also asks Hosea to have children with his wife and to name them names that mean “Not loved” and “Not my people” (1:6, 9). Those are harsh names for children! Even though they are symbolic, it would hurt to be named “not loved.” Especially in a time when a name was very symbolic and important. I wonder how those children turned out. I know that God has a purpose and loves all His children, even these, but sometimes it seems very unkind to use children as symbolism in this way (not to mention how hard it must have been for Hosea to know his wife was openly sleeping around behind his back). I suppose that in the grand scheme of things it’s not much and God’s ultimate plan trumps our comfort. But it is still hard to fathom.