IMO: You Don’t Have What it Takes - Monday
Revelation 22:17
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. (NLT)
My mom signed me up for baseball in the third grade. I was super shy, so when she dropped me off for my first practice and left, I was afraid to join the crowd of kids gathered around the coach. Instead, I sat down in the grass and watched everyone else play. For three entire practices, I sat there. Then one day, my mom returned early to pick me up, found me sitting by the fence in the outfield, and dragged me over to the coach. All along, I was officially on the team. I’d paid my enrollment fee. I was on the roster. But I felt like an outsider, and so I was separated from the rest of the players by my lack of confidence.
Both before and after taking the plunge in baptism to follow Jesus, sin carries the side effect of separation. Even after meeting Jesus—even when we’re officially on the team—we can effectively consider ourselves to be separated from God through sinful choices and the resulting sense of disconnection. But Jesus has torn down that wall of separation. We are not merely on the team. We’re part of His family. So we have what it takes to live closely with Him.
Still, sin erodes our confidence in His acceptance, and the sense of being worthy of His welcome diminishes. We think that if He really knew us (forgetting that He really does know us), He wouldn’t want us on the team. Sin messes with our minds. It causes us to live as though we’re separated from God when we’re not! We must absolutely refuse to let sin rewrite the truth of Jesus’ sacrifice and God’s grace in our lives.
Monday’s Reflection
You’re it! or You’re out! Which was worse for you when you were a kid? The games we play when we’re kids could leave us, in equal measure, elated and deflated. Well, thank the Lord that His kingdom is not a competition. Feeling like an outsider? Reach out to Him. Whether you experience His embrace and welcome for the first time, or you turn to Him in a new and fresh way today, He will be so glad you took that step. And so will you.
