LET'S GET IN TROUBLE - FRIDAY, JULY 7, 2023

 FRIDAY, JULY 7, 2023 - SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS - LET’S GET IN TROUBLE.

On Fridays, I write about spiritual thoughts.

(Uh, Karen - is your title right?  “Let’s get in trouble” - on your spiritual thoughts blog?  If we are spiritual, we are sweet and holy and not getting into trouble.)

So, three Bible stories - The Prodigal Son, Tax Collector and the Pharisee, and  the Lost Sheep

Story 1:  The Prodigal Son - Luke 15:11-42

The father had two sons.  The younger son pressured his father, got his inheritance, squandered the money, ended up feeding pigs, and decided to go home.

His father sees the son coming and runs out and hugs him and welcomes him home.  The elder son is peeved that his father makes a big deal out of the son who returns home - humbled and contrite.

Story 2: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector - Luke 18:9-14

Two men go into the temple - one is a pharisee - who says: “‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

Meanwhile, a tax collector said,  ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

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Story 3: The Lost Sheep - Matthew 18:10-14

A shepherd has 100 sheep and one goes missing. The shepherd leaves the 99 others and searches high and low for the lost sheep.

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In all three of these stories - the winner was the one who got in trouble - the prodigal son, the tax collector, and the errant sheep.  WHY IS THIS?

Should I get in trouble?  Does the squeaky wheel get the grease? 

Matthew 16:24 says: “He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

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So, the already good people are ignored (like the son who didn't squander the money, the pharisee who fasted and prayed daily, or the 99 good sheep).  

So, to get God’s attention I should be a bit of a troublemaker.  

Let’s take that a step further.  Saul - who became Paul - the major evangelist and writer of the New Testament - was persecuting Christians - and boom became a leader.  Peter (or Simon Peter) did stupid things like denying Jesus three times - and boom - became a leader of Pentecost and the early Christian Church. Jonah - who tried to run away from God - and boom - helped God reach the people of Nineveh.

Yup - I can see it - to get God’s attention, I need to act up - or go astray!!

A couple of weeks ago I talked of purity - and how Ivory Soap is 99 and 44/100s pure.  I don’t know what the cut-off is for being a troublemaker.  Can I be like the prodigal son and take the money and run - until I spend all the money on prostitutes and partying - and still be welcomed back to God?  

Do I have to be a Tax-Collector (who was notorious for taking more than the law required) who says “Lord be merciful to me a sinner”? 

Is this just a coincidence - that the people who get in trouble - get attention from God? I don’t want to act up intentionally to get God’s attention.  Kind of complicated.

Another view: (Matthew 15:23)

Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

Am I a lost sheep that needs rescuing?

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In Romans 7 Paul writes:

 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being, I delight in God’s law; but I see another direction at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

I don’t want to screw up.  I want to be Godly.  But, (honestly), there are times I want to run away - get drunk, smoke pot, and just be a troublemaker for the day.  Of course, I know that God will rescue me (won’t He?). Is there a limit on how many times God will bail me out?  Might there be a time when he says, “Karen - you crossed the limit.  I’m not going to listen to your prayers again, I’m not going to rescue you again.  

What if in the stories above, once the prodigal son has been home for a while, he steals money from Dad and goes and finds a prostitute?  What if the tax collector at work finds ways to college more and more illicit monies?  What if the 100th sheep goes astray again?  Can God rescue us only once?

I write of God’s infinite LOVE, infinite GRACE, and awesomeness.  Will he ever stop loving me?  

I don’t think so!!!  (WOOOO!!!)

But, I’m not even close to 99.44% pure like Ivory Soap - and I guess I will probably never be 100% pure (until - well - heaven).  

Like the tax collector - I have to repeat “Lord be merciful to me a sinner”!!!

But, at some point, we also have to be responsible and grow into spiritual maturity!!

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, JULY 7, 2023