Overflowing
God is good. We are not always.
The LORD is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness. He will not always accuse us, nor will he keep his anger for ever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our wickedness. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is his mercy great upon those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sins from us. As a father cares for his children, so does the LORD care for those who fear him. For he himself knows whereof we are made; he remembers that we are but dust. - Psalm 103:8-14
Sometimes we forget that God puts up with a lot of crap from us.
We like to believe we are in charge of our lives, that we can do what we like and not think about it. And for the most part, God is good with that. After all, He gave us a free will to make those decisions.
Yet, in a way that freedom is a curse.
It allows us to stray, to do things we may regret, to forget we are children of God.
So, God shows us mercy, forgiving what we do and giving us chances to return to Him.
The psalmist reminds us that we are dust. We will return to the state from which we were made. He doesn't say that we will go on after this life. In his view, what we have is one life to live, and it will come to a dusty end.
Jesus gives us hope in something more, and that's good news. But it may also make us think we don't have to work too hard now.
I think we should live as though this is all there is, that we only have this short time to do as much good as possible. We should fill our cup and let it overflow with love for one another.
Then, when it is time to return to dust, we can begin the new life that is eternal. We can leave knowing we have done our best.
Why not give it our all?
More to come...