Stepping Out in Faith

9/19/2011

Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.

Bible Verse of the Day: Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

What will we be more regretful of at the end of our lives, things that we did that we wish we didn't do or things we didn't do that we wish we had done? What will be more disappointing to God? These are questions that are human beings will grapple with someday as they reflect back on their lives. Studies have shown that their is a connection between time and regrets that helps us to answer the question posed above. In the short term, measured in weeks or months, but not years, people tend to feel worse about the things they've done that they no they shouldn't have done. These things are called sins of commission. We feel guilty about these things as we have been disobedient to the will of God and we recognize it in our souls. Hopefully, we repent of the sin of commission quickly, pray about it and try to do better next time, although we realize that as sinners in a fallen world, our sin nature is strong here on earth and we will fall many more times each day in both thought and deed. Thank God He never expects perfection out of us, but rather only that we recognize that He sent His only son to be our sin offering for us, to cleanse us from our sin, so one day we can stand before Him free from the stains that would present us as guilty, before His seat of judgement. Hallelujah! However, as we move further out in time, measured by years or decades, by a fairly overwhelming gap of around 85% to 15%, people begin to resent the things that the should have done, but didn't do as compared to the things that they had done that they shouldn't have. In biblical terms, these are called sins of omission. This is the type of regret that can cause your soul to be restless as you realize that you didn't do all that you could have done with the gifts that God gave you. The German Author Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe states " Hell begins the day God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do." Man, that scares me so much to think about what that will be like. I don't want to get to the end of my life and have those regrets. So when we look at the two types of sins presented above, sins of commission and sins of omission, we have to ask ourselves some important questions. Which are more damaging to God's will for our lives? Which are more important to God's Kingdom here on earth? Which will we be held more accountable for? Lastly, how can we make a difference in the short time on earth with the tools we have been given by God? I think we need to look at this question from a different angle to help us frame it from a new perspective. Sins of commission is really feeling guilty about the things we have done that we know are ungodly. So we try to remove these sins from our lives, sort of a holiness by subtraction. Sins of omission, on the other hand, are feeling guilty about not doing all that we know we should and could do. We need to correct this by doing more with the gifts that God has uniquely given each one of us, stepping out in faith. Holiness by multiplication if you will. I am of the firm belief that as Christians we are called to spread the light and love of the gospel into this broken world. That requires a faith commitment. That requires us to put our Faith in Jesus Christ and to not look at all the obstacles that appear before us. We can give our best efforts, with pure motives and love in our hearts, and let God handle the outcome. I believe that God removes obstacles when we are in prayer mode and relying on Him for guidance. If we look at ourselves and our limitations, we get fearful. But if we look at God and his awesome power, we get bold. That is why prayer is the key to everything. It is what draws our attention off of ourselves and our weaknesses and places it onto God and his power. The bible is filled with stories of God using "unqualified" people to do huge things for His kingdom. King David was a poor Sheppard boy before he defeated Goliath and became a King. Moses was a murderer and had a speech impediment before he was used to lead the Israelites out of captivity. The apostle Paul was one of the biggest persecutors of the Christian faith before arguably becoming the one most responsible for the spreading of the gospel to all the ends of the earth. We must remember that God prepares those He calls for big things, he doesn't necessarily call those who are prepared in the world's eyes. God is in the resume building business, using the " foolish to confound the wise." Therefore, if we "cast our eyes upon Him" and wait for his commands, we can accomplish big things through Him who calls us. All power, wisdom and glory belongs to Him. May we step out in faith to play our part in his picture show. His Kingdom will be glorified. Amen!