Thursday, February 22, 2018
But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping
the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and
the prophets long ago. We are made right
with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no
matter who we are. For everyone has
sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right
in his sight. 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 makes sinners right in his sight when
they believe in Jesus. Can we boast,
then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on
obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith
and not by obeying the law. Romans 3:21-28(NLT)
Lent, as with most
issues and times in life with significant meaning, requires a certain amount of
patient waiting. And the higher the
stakes, the more difficult it is to be patient.
I can only imagine
that is what the families in Parkland, Florida are experiencing in their shock
over the horrific madness of the shooting deaths of 14 children and three
teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School a week ago. Everything within them must be crying-out for
justice for their lost loved ones. The
emptiness must feel like an immense sinkhole has swallowed the center of life
from ever-again having a sense of peace or meaning. And with the insulating nature of shock, they
haven’t even begun to feel pain or grieve; the worst of human emotions is still
in the future.
Those of us who do
not personally know a single victim or family member can only offer prayers
from afar. One part of those prayers I
find myself lifting is that the short lives of those children speak loudly to
the rest of us God’s intent for His creation; that we hear how incredibly
precious is this gift of life.
For me, along with
incredible sorrow over what that young shooter irreversibly desecrated with his
AR15 and misplaced anger, comes a swelling urgency within that we somehow seize
this moment in our culture to step towards peace. I know the politicians will sniggle over what
gunlaws need to be tweaked in order to solidify their base of support, so they
can keep their job of being a politician.
And far-right, right-to-bear-arms, cannons, and machine guns will stand
near the Liberty Bell with a Bible in one hand and a high-powered, rapid-fire
weapon in the other, daring anyone to regulate what they own, or what they can
do with what they own. I simply don’t
want to go down either of those rabbit holes; neither have an exit; neither do
they have a sense of decency in the light of the bloodstains in Parkland.
I do not have a creative,
nifty, never-before-thought of plan, legislation, or program to offer to this
conversation about violence in our culture.
I wish to God I did. But there is
one already on the books.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life
for one’s friends. John 15:13(NLT)
If laying down
your life for another (as the football coach in Parkland did for students) is
the guiding principle, certainly politicians can lay-down their careers and
develop a backbone. Certainly gun-owners
can lay-down their rhetoric and develop a sense of decency.
For You Today
Together we can
stop the shedding of blood; if we don’t…it’s on our hands and heads.
You chew on
that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.
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