A thought for today from Titus 3.
Be subject to rulers,
to authorities,
to be obedient,
to be ready for every good deed,
to malign no one,
to be peaceful,
showing every consideration for all men.
For we also once were foolish ourselves,
disobedient ,
deceived,
enslaved to various lusts and pleasures,
spending our life in malice and envy,
hateful and hating one another.
But when the kindness of God our Savior
and His love for mankind appeared,
He saved us,
not on the basis of deeds
we have done in righteousness,
but according to His mercy,
by the washing of regeneration
and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
whom He poured out upon us richly
through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that being justified by His grace
we would be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life.
The world seems to applaud rebels, those who yell, beat drums and build themselves up by tearing down others. And if we are honest with ourselves, apart from the outward veneer of good we apply, inside we have all been rebels, wanting to justify our rebellion by pointing out or reacting to what we consider the misdeeds of others.
Paul points out that what rises out of rebellion is self deception. People think of life as being some type of scale. There are many who believe they are OK in the eyes of God or society because their weight of righteousness compares or exceeds that of others. Thus their hearts are hardened to the moving of the Holy Spirit, who is the only one who can clearly reveal to us who Jesus is and what is the Father's will for us.
Our response to that as rebels should be to humbly surrender our wills, our desires, our self-righteousness to what Jesus has already done for us and has freely given us. There are no scales in God's grace. Once we firmly believe that Jesus suffered and died for all of our rebellion we have become partakers in a new life that is eternal. Once we acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of our lives we have begun to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to greater truths than the world will ever comprehend.
In the noise and clamor of today we need to take a step back. The world is full of rebels enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending life in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. The grace we have as followers of Jesus has been freely given. The will of God as revealed by the Holy Spirit never falters or changes. Our response to the world should be a reflection of both. We humbly proclaim the truth of His will and who Jesus is while at the same time we are always ready to extend grace to those who live in the darkness of this world.
