Verse of the day: Judges 14:8-9, After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. 9 He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.
God’s grace is truly amazing, and quite undeserved. I find, and I am sure you would agree, that God is far better to us than we deserve. I read about the lives of men like Abraham, Moses, Samson, and David, and I am greatly encouraged. Why, you ask? Because these were all men who were not perfect, who had moments in their lives that were less than honorable, yet, even after they failed, God still chose to use them and bless them in great ways. Samson, as we all can see from his life, was not the most righteous man to come along, even though God had chosen him, even before he was conceived, to be a Nazarite, separated unto the Lord (Judges 13). When we read about Samson’s decisions, right from the outset, I believe that many of us today, while praising God for His grace cannot seem to understand why God would choose to use someone He knew would behave the way that Samson behaved. It seems inconsistent that a righteous God would use such an imperfect people who intentionally do things that are sin against the Lord. What we often fail to remember is that God is God, and He does not operate the way we do or have the twisted biases that we have. God can use us when we are living right and doing what is right, but God will also choose, in many instances to use us, even when we are having our moments of rebellious behavior, or moments of stumbling. This is by no means an excuse or opportunity to justify our sinful choices. For those of us who have read about the lives of the men I already mentioned, we know that their decisions to choose what was sinful resulted in severe consequences. This has not changed today. We, as God’s children, are called to righteousness. 1 Peter 1:13-16 cannot be any clearer, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” Many of us know that we have not lived up to that command and there have been times when we have sinned egregiously against the Lord. Yet, in those times when we know that the last thing we deserve is forgiveness or grace, when we come to the Lord being truly repentant and asking forgiveness, He gives it (1 John 1:8-2:1). This is where the “amazing” part of grace is seen…when we know we have sinned, and even before we come to the Lord, we see His grace. Roman 2:4 tells us why this is, “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” Here is where the confusion comes into play, and it is usually in the eyes and hearts of those who are observing our lives; especially those who have been offended or directly affected by our sinful choices. They look at our lives, they see God’s grace working in our live to draw us back to Himself and wonder why God would choose to use us? How can a righteous God choose to use our sinful choices to accomplish His will and plan, and be so good to us? Why would He even go to the extent of blessing us? Well, to be honest, I do not know. All I know is that God is God and He has shown us time, and time, again that His grace and forgiveness go beyond our sinfulness. Before we criticize someone else’s life, choose to seek our own form of vengeance or try to decide someone else’s consequences for decisions they have made, stop and ask yourself, “Is it my place to decide that?” “Am I interfering in what God is trying to do in that sinner’s life, just as He does time and time again in my own life?” “Is it my place to decide someone else’s consequences simply because I want vengeance and feel they deserve to be hurt or suffer because of what they did to me?” On the flipside, we must not let others rob us of the joy of experiencing God’s grace and forgiveness in our own lives. We must not give up on serving God when He has not given up on us. We must not let man’s decision to be unforgiving or lack grace override God’s goodness, forgiveness and grace in our life. God used men like Samson for His glory, and He may choose to use us, even after we have messed up, if we will turn back to Him and surrender to be used by Him. Why? Well, because He is God and it is not about us. It is about Him!
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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