Today's Scriptures: Deuteronomy 26:16-19; Matthew 5:43-48
What does God expect of us? If our Lenten changes of heart were fully successful, what would we be like?
In the Deuteronomy passage Moses tells the people that they are to carry out all the commands that God has given them with commitment and care so that they can become God's own people, a people sacred to the Lord.
The Matthew passage is even more demanding. Jesus tells us that God expects more of us than just being kind to those people that are kind to us. We are supposed to take after our heavenly Father, whose kindness know no bounds. we are to love as God loves. Nothing else is enough!
That is a pretty high expectation. It would be downright frightening if we had to do it by ourselves. But we don't have to do it by ourselves. God has promised to help us. God is going to provide what we need in order to love as He loves. As Christians we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit so we are no longer limited to our own individual gifts and strength.
That doesn't make it all easy, but as Christians we know that we have what we need in order to live up to God's expectations. A change of heart doesn't mean becoming something new, but becoming more effectively what we already are.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment