Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
- Luke 12:32
This is the amazing verse that comes in the middle of a section of scripture where Jesus speaks of being aware of the righteous judgment of God coming and not being afraid because God will care for our needs if we seek Him and allow Him to take care of us rather than stressing over trying to control our own life and figure out how to take care of ourselves. And I am so glad this verse was included in the midst of all that. Because we have no problems believing in a God of judgment sometimes, but a good God, a good, good Daddy is hard to swallow and trust in.
Perhaps believing in a good God doesn't exactly remove the problem of us being leery of Him and fearing His wrath and retribution. Because here's the truth of the matter when we stop to really think of it. We may say things like a good God would give mercy to everyone and there would be no judgment. He would give everyone a place in paradise and an eternity of pleasure and not hold anyone responsible for the actions on earth. After all, we're just struggling through life the best we can, we don't really know how to be different or better, and there are so many choices and temptations and hardships, and even bad people usually had something bad happen to them, blah, blah, bogus blah. Bogus. Big bunch of bogusness.
Our heart knows better. It demands better. Leah and I were discussing tip sharing last night on our way home from dinner. What a great example. Some poor server works hard, does a good job with a good attitude and gets a good tip while another server does a lousy job, treats the customers like they don't matter and doesn't get hardly any tips. Then at the end of the night the two servers have to split their tips evenly? Tell me your heart doesn't rise up and cry that's not fair! That's not right! If it doesn't you haven't been in or had someone you care about be in that or a similar situation. If it happened to me I would be filled with anger. Why should some lousy server with a bad attitude get an equal portion of my tips when I'm the only one getting decent tips?
Two young men get arrested on the same day for different crimes. We'll leave out any identifiers and say simply that they are similar in background. One committed misdemeanor, while the other had seen someone wearing some shoes he liked and had beaten his victim to death with a baseball bat and taken the shoes. They are both in court on the same day awaiting arraignment. The judge walks in and says I want to be good today. I give everyone mercy. All defendants are free to go, cases are dismissed, and a man who murdered someone for his shoes runs out of the courtroom rejoicing. Do we call that a good judge? Even a good man? Of course not.
We would probably try to have him thrown in jail and accuse him of being corrupt and on the take. At the very least he wouldn't be a judge much longer. Our sense of right and wrong and fair play demand justice, except for us of course. We'll take the mercy platter to go, please and thank you.. But we know justice is right, and we know that if God is good, then He must also be just, because to be unjust is not good. And therefore we are afraid of Him, because whether right out front easy to see or buried deep down we all know that we deserve judgment. We may believe we're the man with the misdemeanor and not the murderer. We may not feel we deserve the same judgment as some or most, but we know that we aren't innocent.
So simply saying that God is good doesn't mean that He will be good to me. I have every reason to fear a good and just God. I am not a good person. I am selfish and self indulgent. So we doubt the idea of a loving Daddy who is kind and merciful and compassionate towards us and yet somehow is still good and just and right. We either don't believe God will show us mercy and acceptance without us somehow, at least in part, deserving it and earning it, or we feel He must be kind to us begrudgingly, like we found a loop hole in the law and are getting away with something and He wishes He could make us pay, but nope, the Jesus clause means we must be forgiven.
But that is not it at all. He has chosen gladly to give us the kingdom! Literally it says we don't have to be afraid because Daddy delights in giving you the kingdom, in making you His and being kind, compassionate and generous toward you. And you aren't getting away with anything. The Jesus clause is not a loop hole in the law, in the rules. Jesus isn't a flaw in the system. Jesus came because the Father is good and justice demands payment. Every person you ever wronged will get their justice, as will you for all you have endured and in every way you have been wronged and harmed. Someone should pay for what was done to you, and Someone did. You should pay for what you've done, and you know it, but Someone already did so that you don't have to.
Daddy forgiving you is not unfair or unjust because Someone still paid. And He let Jesus pay the debt because both Daddy and Son love you. Our situation is not that of facing an unfair and unrighteous judge who lets evil win and victims go unheard. The judge also happens to be our father, and when we come before Him it breaks His heart. He knows we're guilty. He knows what we deserve, but He still loves us, just as you would love your child even if they were guilty of a crime. He said justice demands payment, and I know what's right, but I don't want you to have to pay the debt you owe. My innocent of everything and anything Son has volunteered to do your time, to pay your debt and fulfill the demands of justice on your behalf, and just to make sure it is completely fair and just, He will do the same for all, whatever is owed, big or small, justice is served and I can be good to you.
Don't be afraid of Daddy. He loves you. He will be good to you, not just good in general. He isn't merciful begrudgingly, He delights in making a way for you to have relationship with Him. You are His heart's desire, just as you are and not as you should be. You don't deserve it, nor do you have to, and He won't leave you the way you are. He can and will make you like the One who loved enough to pay your debt.
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