Let me just say, I'm the kind of person that doesn't get away with anything. While I haven't seen the earth swallow anyone, or fiery hailstones, or poisonous snakes, I can still see a direct correlation between certain willful sins that I do and external events.
Don't get me wrong, I still like God. I don't see Him as some kind of "Soup-Nazi-esque" prison warden, waiting to smack me down whenever I mess up. There's another side to it. That is, when I deliberately disobey something basic to Christianity, God has to hold me accountable for my actions. What's weird is, my punishments can never make up for my mistakes and rebellions. Sometimes I wish God worked like a Catholic priest, where I could just do my penance and never worry about anymore consequences. But that's not how it works.
The thing is, even in discipline there is grace. Thus far, my punishments have never fit the crime. Even more, I still have too many blessings to count!
God's punishments should throw us back into repentance and dependence and trust in Jesus. Jesus makes us right with God, and keeps us right with God. The grace of God frees me to serve Him and others with clean hands and a pure heart.
So praise God when He holds you accountable, because, after all, it means that He still "holds you."
1 comment:
I've always said that I have generally stayed out of trouble because I never got away with ANYTHING--either as a child, or as an adult! This doesn't mean I'm perfect, by any means, but it does mean that I am aware of God's hand on me. (Also, there is always SOMEONE who knows my parents hanging around, and I just know they will tell on me!!!)
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