Isn't it terrible when you fall short of
something you are trying to achieve? We have all fallen short of at least a few
of these goals:
- Honor Roll/Deans List- Five As
and…one B+! :’(
- “The championship”-whether
in Madden or in real life, we have all lost a sports championship by just
one point, one touchdown, one goal!
- Getting the job- you applied
for the job, internship, fellowship, [or whatever] of your dreams and you made
it to the final interview round but lost out to another interviewee(s)
- Love- sometime around 1st
grade (and possibly later in life too) your crush chose you to be their boyfriend/girlfriend…untilllll
you saw them with someone else a week later.
I’m sure you can relate to falling short in one
of these categories, and feeling depressed, dejected, dumb, disheartened, or
all of the above. Beyond these examples of falling short though, we do have one
thing in common that we ALL fall short of. Romans 3:23 says in the King James
Version: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
It is a verse people love to quote, but one that
we rarely stop and examine for its profound significance. I like how the New
Living Translation says it, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of
God’s glorious standard.” To me this means, we attempt to do what is right, but
even at our finest moment when we think that we have passed with 100s across
the board, there will always be that one B+. The fact is, we just aren't good
enough to compare to God’s measuring stick.
Now you may be thinking: this is depressing, we
can never win! But on the contrary, we have a wildcard and with this wildcard there
is hope for us. That hope is Jesus Christ. Romans 3: 24-26 go on to say:
“Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this
through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God
presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when
they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice
shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who
sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he
would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness,
for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his
sight when they believe in Jesus”
YET, GOD WITH UNDESERVED KINDNESS DECLARES THAT
WE ARE RIGHTEOUS I love everything about this statement. Let’s think about it
for a second…God has already told us that we are not worthy of his glory. Yet,
he is SO AMAZING that he has the power to declare us righteous because he is
kind and because HE says so. All we have to do to receive this kindness is
believe in Jesus.
So, I DARE YOU to believe today. Believe that
God is fair. Believe that God loves you. Believe that Jesus died for your sins.
Believe that you can overcome your shortcomings. Through belief, all things
fall into place. Once you decide to believe and have faith in God, you will “truly
fulfill the law” (Romans 3:31). You will begin to do right and you won’t fully
know why.
Accept God’s unfailing love and kindness by
believing today, and he will change your life.
Today’s Prayer: Dear God, I pray for
each and every person reading his blog. I pray that they will stop focusing on
their shortcomings and make the decision to believe in you today. I pray that
you will shower you kindness and love upon them and show them what it feels
like to be made whole despite our human brokenness. I thank you right now for giving
us the opportunity for redemption and for declaring us right in your sight
despite all the ways we are wrong. I believe in you Jesus. Amen.
Merciful Mondays: Jael
“For
the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or
destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.”
Deuteronomy 4:31
AMEN!!!
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