What Makes Me Different?

Good Wednesday morning! Give it a try. At times we like the saying, at other times we don't. We know, for example, that a person cannot simply give Jesus a try and expect to have eternal life. A person either believes in Jesus or does not. However, the invitation my work for some searching soul who needs to give Jesus a try so that our brothers in Christ who are better with words can give a fuller and more satisfying explanation for this hope we have in Christ. Not all Christians are good with the spoken word, not all can weave the written word, some can do neither well. We depend on the Holy Spirit to strengthen our words and we make use of those blessed with those gifts of the Spirit. There are those seeds that will fall on the rocky or thin soil no matter how good the words we sow may be. Jesus did not promise that all who receive the Word will believe in Him. Some will give Jesus a try and then fall away. We cannot take away their freedom to choose this path in life. We can pray for that person though, and just maybe the Lord will transplant them, or try sowing their seed again.

At least one sci-fi movie, two Santy Claus movies, and one magician movie have borrowed the old saying about believing or having faith. We know where it comes from and may even resent the 'borrowing' a little. But the fact is, people who choose not to believe in Jesus are given over to believe in most anything. Many find it much easier to 'believe' in the existence of magic with a wooden stick than to believe in the Son of God. Others believe in a man who lives at the North Pole for much of their lives, and then fall away from believing in a man who died for their sins. And I know more than a few geeks who would like to believe in 'The Force' and would rather ignore the all-powerful God who sent His Son to be born of a virgin in Bethlehem. We tend to ask the question, "Why don't they believe?" when we should ask, "What makes me different?"

I do not understand why God would choose me or you over those who do not believe. I watched the same movies and read the same books as many of my friends, but I now find it far easier to believe in Jesus than to entertain thoughts of fat fellows falling down chimneys or waving sticks to make things happen magically. From my point of view, I hold no special value to God that others do not have and yet they do not believe in the Son of God and I do. We have all met and known those who sing better, write better, speak better, act better, and in many other ways perform better than we do on the human stage, and yet God chose you and me to believe and receive the gift of grace. Why is that? We don't know. Perhaps where the soil appears all rocky and selfish to us, God can see the deep pockets of good soil where His seed will grow and mature. Whatever God saw in me and you, we can praise the name of Jesus for His saving grace. We may not know the why, but we now know the Way.

Praise God for grace!
Bucky