vs 2 ... Remember how you were when you didn't know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It's different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can.
I remember what it was like before I met God all too well. I was sad - all.the.time. I was empty. I could never get enough, of anything. I struggled, I cried, I pretended everything was okay. I desperately searched for happiness anywhere I could find it. by the time I finally went back to church at the age of 24, I had almost completely destroyed myself.
I think of the story of the Prodigal Son quite often. While I had been away from God, I had committed horrible sins, I had hurt countless people. I was battered, broken, dying. I had taken so long to go to church because I had feared harsh judgment, not just by people, by by God. Instead, I was embraced, forgiven, loved. God was not concerned about the road I had taken to get back to Him - He was just glad I was back.
vs 27 ... You are Christ's body - that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything.
I have loved the "parts of the body" comparison since the very first time I heard it. I have always felt awkward and out of place. I was never pretty or thin enough to be part of the "it" crowd. Never athletic enough for the jocks. Too citified for the countryfolk, too countrified for the cityfolk. I didn't even really fit in with the dorks. I was always just me becoming a Christian and a part of the Body of Christ was huge for me. I belonged. I mattered. I had a place and I had purpose. Now I just have to figure out what it is, which I haven't been able to do yet. Thankfully, God is patient.
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