Every once in a while, I have these moments where the intellectual ground that I have been standing on begins to shake a little bit. Not that it crumbles, but that it makes me question whether or not I’m standing in the right spot. This weekend, I sort of had one of those experiences. I don’t know the best way to explain it, but I feel that it’s so important that I want to try. Here it goes.
As a Christian, I am well aware that “Jesus died for my sins.” We hear or say that very frequently. I know that Ephesians 2:8 says we’ve been saved by Grace not by our own works. Despite of these things, I know I often find myself striving to achieve some level of righteousness on my own, messing up and failing, then trying to figure out how I can make myself better so that I won’t feel so miserable. When I hear sermons or read the Bible, a lot of the time in my mind I’m constructing a new to do list—appending the laundry list of things in my head that I have to work harder at achieving.
In Galatians 5 Paul writes, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free,” but the life I live a lot of the time feels more like slavery than freedom. Honestly, I frequently find myself just not wanting to try any more. There are verses like Psalm 63:3 that says God’s love is better than life and Philippians 4:4 that says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” I hear those verses and I think better than life? I can’t see it. Rejoice? Why? I begin wondering if I’m missing something. If God’s so good, why do I feel like this? It doesn’t seem right.
Well, in talking with a friend over the weekend, I’ve been reminded of a really important truth: Jesus died for our sin! Yeah, nothing new, but really think about it. He died for all of them for all time. We are no longer obligated to try harder—we are already right with God. Now, it sounds blasphemous, but the reality is we don’t any longer even have a responsibility to try to be righteous. Jesus has already made us righteous. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” God has made us to be his righteousness by having Jesus Christ die for us.
So, what does this really mean? Well, it means one thing primarily in my thinking. If Jesus has died to make me right with God, I no longer have to worry about being right with God. My concern now is simply to enjoy my right standing with God. He made me and loves me and I want to discover the good life he has for me.
What does it not mean? It doesn’t mean that we just forget trying to live righteously. We still ought to live righteously, but not because we have to, but because when we do we will experience God’s goodness to the fullest degree.
In light of this, I am going to begin taking a new direction on this web log. Instead of writing about ways to try harder, I will now simply reflect on God’s goodness. I will attempt to praise God here by talking about all the ways I can see and discover God’s blessing in my life.
If this strikes a chord with you, try this today: take 3 minutes and for those three minutes, just try to be thankful for stuff. Don’t be fake or over spiritualize it. Thank God for the things you are really thankful for. If you’re thankful for good coffee, tell God. If you’re thankful for a fun experience you’ve had or are looking forward to, thank Him for it. If you’re thankful for your good looks, thank him for it. Whatever He’s given you, give God glory by just recognizing it as coming from Him and enjoy it!
God’s good today.