Ignoring
"As God's partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God's kindness and then ignore it. For God says, 'At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.' Indeed, the 'right time' is now. Today is the day of salvation." II Cor. 6:1-2
I have received some pretty amazing gifts in my life. At the time of their arrival, my heart absolutely overflowed with joy and gratitude. These gifts represented the meeting of desperate needs or deep longings. They've come in all shapes and sizes with values so huge that no price tag could contain them. Sadly, however, not even the magnitude of these incredible gifts has kept my heart attentive to them over the long haul.
Given Paul's plea in our verses today, it is clear that this problem is not unique to me nor our moment in history. Paul calls out this church for receiving the most marvelous of gifts, God's kindness, and then ignoring it. What?! God heard them. He provided salvation for them. Their response was to ignore it, to not allow it to have a daily impact on their lives. Stunning, but unfortunately, all too familiar.
How much of our lives are lived as if God didn't exist? How many days go by without as much as a simple, "Thank you." If we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, today and every other today we may be given is the "day of salvation." It is the "right time." Life is precious. Our place in God's plan was uniquely designed for us. His kindness is ours to bask in and to share, not to shelve as if it's a trophy of a bygone era. Don't let one more today come and go without living in the great privilege of the present tense wonder of his kindness!
Grace and Peace,
Tom
I have received some pretty amazing gifts in my life. At the time of their arrival, my heart absolutely overflowed with joy and gratitude. These gifts represented the meeting of desperate needs or deep longings. They've come in all shapes and sizes with values so huge that no price tag could contain them. Sadly, however, not even the magnitude of these incredible gifts has kept my heart attentive to them over the long haul.
Given Paul's plea in our verses today, it is clear that this problem is not unique to me nor our moment in history. Paul calls out this church for receiving the most marvelous of gifts, God's kindness, and then ignoring it. What?! God heard them. He provided salvation for them. Their response was to ignore it, to not allow it to have a daily impact on their lives. Stunning, but unfortunately, all too familiar.
How much of our lives are lived as if God didn't exist? How many days go by without as much as a simple, "Thank you." If we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, today and every other today we may be given is the "day of salvation." It is the "right time." Life is precious. Our place in God's plan was uniquely designed for us. His kindness is ours to bask in and to share, not to shelve as if it's a trophy of a bygone era. Don't let one more today come and go without living in the great privilege of the present tense wonder of his kindness!
Grace and Peace,
Tom
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