Friday, March 09, 2007
Minimum acceptable standards...
I hurt Marsha's feelings last night. She was finishing up in the kitchen and expressed how she wished she had help. I kindly pointed out that I had put up many of items from supper. But evidently I didn't finish the job. What did she expect? If I didn't do enough, shouldn't the expectations be spelled out exactly. After all, shouldn't it be a 50-50 deal. Boy, I'm as bad as some of our kids.
I love to hear kids negotiate with parents. How many peas do I have to eat? If I go to bed, do I have to go to sleep? I may not have been in the house at curfew, but I was in the driveway. Define "clean your room". Sometimes they are so cute and endearing, sometimes these arguements are frustrating and irritating, and sometimes they are manipulative and insulting.
I wonder how God feels when we play that same game.
Do I have to go to church every Sunday? Do I tithe out of the gross or the net? How do you define sex? And on and on we go.
You know what the purpose of these questions is, don't you? We are looking for the minimum acceptable standard to "pass" the Christianity course. Or we want to see how close we can get to the line without crossing it.
And that is foreign to the concept of grace, faith, love, and dying to self to live for Jesus.
So I am examining my life to see where I am "cutting corners". I don't want to live that way. Maybe I ought to finish the job, maybe it's 100% all the time. Maybe I shouldn't have to ask, or get defensive. Maybe I ought to quit looking for the "passing grade".
How about you?
I love to hear kids negotiate with parents. How many peas do I have to eat? If I go to bed, do I have to go to sleep? I may not have been in the house at curfew, but I was in the driveway. Define "clean your room". Sometimes they are so cute and endearing, sometimes these arguements are frustrating and irritating, and sometimes they are manipulative and insulting.
I wonder how God feels when we play that same game.
Do I have to go to church every Sunday? Do I tithe out of the gross or the net? How do you define sex? And on and on we go.
You know what the purpose of these questions is, don't you? We are looking for the minimum acceptable standard to "pass" the Christianity course. Or we want to see how close we can get to the line without crossing it.
And that is foreign to the concept of grace, faith, love, and dying to self to live for Jesus.
So I am examining my life to see where I am "cutting corners". I don't want to live that way. Maybe I ought to finish the job, maybe it's 100% all the time. Maybe I shouldn't have to ask, or get defensive. Maybe I ought to quit looking for the "passing grade".
How about you?
