Take a Look in the Mirror
Scripture For The Day
July 25th 2022
"Take a Look in the Mirror"
Have you ever thought much about
the Prodigal Son’s Brother? I’ve been thinking quite a bit about him the last
few days. I mean, he was obedient. He was responsible. He was faithful and
loyal. But yet, he was not happy with his brother’s return. I mean, this selfish,
lazy, greedy brother not only got welcomed back with open arms but got gifts
and a party? What’s up with that? Most
of us tend to relate to the prodigal son that falls out of line with his father’s
will but is still welcomed back into his arms. But have you ever recognized
the older brother in yourself?
Some Christians, albeit with good
intentions, become self-appointed “Christian police” at times. They begin
sharing their frustrations over what they think others should be doing. Humility
begins to fade away within their hearts. It’s kind of like those posts you see
on social media with fake pictures of Jesus ‘If you scroll by and don’t say
amen or click like then you don’t love Jesus” Well let me tell you a secret- I
scroll on by because I’m pretty sure that The Lord knows my heart. I don’t have
to be guilt-tripped and condemned for not liking a picture. That’s just
emotional extortion. And I would rather choose Grace. Now, that’s a relationship.
Yes, there are things The Lord would
like us to do in our Christian walk. Above
all, He wants a relationship with us. The more we love Him and desire to live a
life for Him, the less we want of this world. The more we dig into His Word and
study and learn, the less we desire the junk. We want more of Him and less of
us. We desire to share His Love and to share His Word with everyone around us.
We desire to be more like Him in everything we say and do. Share The Truth, but share with Grace and Love
and not what we think is correct. Not our interpretations but just the
facts. No more law, but GRACE. According to Galatians 4:7, we are no more
servants when we accept Jesus into our hearts. We are Children of God. We serve
Him, we honor Him because we Love Him. Fact. We strive to be more like Jesus
Christ daily because we Love Him. Fact. We worship Him because we Love Him. Fact. We
will stumble and fall. Fact. But He is right there with us to pick us up. Fact.
Fact. We don’t do these things because man says we must while they use some
emotional extortion tactics. If we do, then
we are just going through the motions and checking off a list. But we do these
things because we Love Him and we are His Children and we call Him: “Abba, Father!”
Sometimes, we are the prodigal
son, but then, Lord help us, there are times when we are the brother, not so
humble as well as being full of frustrations over what we think others should be doing and
wanting to know where our party is? It just seems unfair. But that’s Grace. And
we need to show a little more Grace to each other and stop condemning people
for what we think they should be doing and recognize the facts of His Word and
not our own interpretations and then take a look in the mirror.
I was listening to a song by
Casting Crowns yesterday that reminded me once again about what has been on my
heart: “Start Right Here” … “I’m like the brother of the prodigal, who turned
his nose and puffed his chest. He didn’t run off like the brother. But his soul
was just as dead. What if the church on Sunday, was still the church on Monday
too? What if we came down from our towers and walked a mile in someone’s shoes?
… It’s got to start right here!!!”
Comments
Post a Comment