Coaches are often accused of playing favorites. I was the reason for that once. Being left-handed, one of the tallest kids on the team, and a fair ball handler, I played first base regularly. The cause for the charge of favoritism was that the coach just happened to be my Dad.
Some would say God plays favorites. Case in point: He picked the Jews to be His chosen people. Fortunately, He didn't pick them to be His ONLY people. Through a series of miraculous events, Jesus' disciple, Peter, got the point in terms of divine favoritism: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him." (Acts 10.34-35)
A devout man, Cornelius, found favor with God, and became a recipient of His Holy Spirit (Acts 10.44). Prior to this, the endowment of Holy Spirit had been confined to God's, chosen Jewish people. But, having been enlightened, Peter proclaimed the truth that God is not a God of favoritism. The humble, sincere seeker is welcomed by Him, regardless of ethnicity. The apostle Paul would later be inspired to state it clearly: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3.28)
Nothing is more liberating and enabling than to know that sincere seekers are "welcome to Him". Many have the erroneous belief that they have to "clean up their lives" and become "good enough" in order to come to God. But, if it is based on merit, none qualify (Romans 3.23). Faith in the perfect sacrifice of God's Son, and a sincere love and desire for the Father, are key conditions.
Most of us carry the load of unworthiness with us daily. Who isn't painfully aware of their own inadequacy and sinfulness? But, one of the fundamental lessons of the Bible is that our Father accepts the sincere seeker, "warts and all". Many of the giants of faith (Hebrews 11) had serious character defects. The lesson, then, is that there is hope for us all - regardless of background.
My prayer for each of us today is that we might not look so closely at the defects of our lives that we miss the God of grace and acceptance. With passionate hearts, may we seek the One who is relentless in His pursuit of us through His Son.
©Steve Taylor, 2013
Some would say God plays favorites. Case in point: He picked the Jews to be His chosen people. Fortunately, He didn't pick them to be His ONLY people. Through a series of miraculous events, Jesus' disciple, Peter, got the point in terms of divine favoritism: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him." (Acts 10.34-35)
A devout man, Cornelius, found favor with God, and became a recipient of His Holy Spirit (Acts 10.44). Prior to this, the endowment of Holy Spirit had been confined to God's, chosen Jewish people. But, having been enlightened, Peter proclaimed the truth that God is not a God of favoritism. The humble, sincere seeker is welcomed by Him, regardless of ethnicity. The apostle Paul would later be inspired to state it clearly: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3.28)
Nothing is more liberating and enabling than to know that sincere seekers are "welcome to Him". Many have the erroneous belief that they have to "clean up their lives" and become "good enough" in order to come to God. But, if it is based on merit, none qualify (Romans 3.23). Faith in the perfect sacrifice of God's Son, and a sincere love and desire for the Father, are key conditions.
Most of us carry the load of unworthiness with us daily. Who isn't painfully aware of their own inadequacy and sinfulness? But, one of the fundamental lessons of the Bible is that our Father accepts the sincere seeker, "warts and all". Many of the giants of faith (Hebrews 11) had serious character defects. The lesson, then, is that there is hope for us all - regardless of background.
My prayer for each of us today is that we might not look so closely at the defects of our lives that we miss the God of grace and acceptance. With passionate hearts, may we seek the One who is relentless in His pursuit of us through His Son.
©Steve Taylor, 2013
posted by steve @ 8:44 AM
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