Faith & Freedom

I saw some cool things this morning.  I hope I can convey in a coherent way!  The call to be as a child in believing God requires humility and faith.  The scriptures have been speaking consistently of faith in the last few days.  What Jesus said to the Pharisees, "I'm going to the Father and you can't go there..." is the same message we receive when we are pompous and prideful. 

Children do not set out to be right, to be great...that's an adult thing.  When those are in our heart, we begin to serve others and not the King of Kings.  Jesus said doing right helps you know what is right.  His Word is our guide and we must receive it simply and do our best.  Yet in that, we will still 'offend.'  The instructions on resolving offenses follow.

We need to 'keep short accounts.'  When those offenses come--from others, from ourselves--we need to be direct about them.  Some differences will be ironed out, some will not.  God says we are to have salt in ourselves...know what you believe but don't be pompous about it.  Just do what you believe...'rightness' will reveal itself (or repentance will be an obvious need).  When differences are not ironed out, we have another clear command.  Treat the other person as a non-believer.  That doesn't mean fight with them and continue to offend.  This is the passage that says Jesus came for the lost! 

There is an old saying that unity is not uniformity.  We do not all look alike.  God is too big for us to understand perfectly.  But in the midst of life, we want to NOT hold things against others because God will then be holding things against us.  Dangerous, dangerous ground.

So back to the child:  Faith is confidence that lets us live with expectation and enthusiasm.  Seek God.  Do the best you can and trust Him to keep drawing you closer.  Trust Him to do the same for others too.  Sounds easy on paper.  But it will require the life-transforming grace of God.  His supply is more than we will ever need.  Rejoice in today!