What is the deal with our deep desire that all would know God? Do we who have such inclination even know Him ourselves? Or, are we found to be merely parroting what those before us have said we should say?
This is quite paradoxical to me. On one hand we want the hope. On the other, we don't want the frustration that goes with sorting through what is true and what isn't about faith in God. Every street corner has an opposing view of sorts. If not careful, our ridicule of such religious clamor will leave our neighbors quite indifferent toward us...and especially toward God.
While I smile a lot on the outside, my heart is grievous day in and day out for the very good people who haven't found their calling toward the heart of God. Substitutes add to the distraction. Good people find good works in which to engage. If not intentional, at least subtly these efforts can become a course of doing good which is to relieve the conscience.
However, good works cannot and will not overcome a problem man has before his Creator. We cannot do enough good deeds to cover our sins. This is personal disaster of which we have no say in how forgiveness will be worked out. The Son of God took care of that on the Cross. God's question to us is, Do you believe Me?
Therefore, the call of God may be misunderstood. We may have assumed we need to try harder to be better when our authentic call is to believe that Jesus paid our debts upon the Tree and we are to sink our hope into his work; not our own.
Why is this? Jesus got more done at his weakest moment (dying on the excruciating Cross for us) than we can do in our best moments. This call of God to be saved is not a message calling us to work off our offenses. Rather it is that we are to live thankfully that Jesus has paid the bill.
When we reach this conclusion, discipleship, church, and the entire religious concept shifts from burden to thanksgiving. The call of God is to please believe that Jesus became all of our wrongs on the Cross that we could become all of the right things about him....II Cor. 5:21.
One is never heaven bound because we finally got all things right. No. We are heaven bound because Jesus became all of our wrong things while he handed off to us all of his right things.
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