Ah, Well-Deserved!

Good morning as the leaves assault the house with all of their fury. Fortunately, God created the leaves to have a very light fury and the house is not at all worried. I just learned that Matt Redman's song 10,000 Reasons won the Song of the Year award at the Dove Awards last night. A well deserved award in my opinion. I wonder if Matt feels the same way many of us do this morning. What feeling is that? Oh, the one where we feel inadequate for an honor, like it is not at all deserved or maybe we didn't give God enough glory. Why do we feel this way? Why is an honor given to us somehow in our minds not giving glory to God?

We like to bring ourselves down in a gesture of false humility. Let us use the strength of Christ in us to flip that over. You bear the title of Christian, and it is well-deserved. No, stop that remembering of past sins. You deserve the title and the proper response is a thank you to the one who gave you new life, Jesus our Lord. Take the present and live for the One who is bringing us closer to His holy presence each and every day. We live in the present with hope because the present is God's gift to us. The past is gone - don't judge yourself on the past. Christian, you are a child of God, a friend of God's very Son by His calling! Don't look down; your shame is past. Look up! and give glory to God by being what He has made you. The well-deserved title of Christ-one is yours and mine. Let us bear it with the honor due the name of Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord.

Bucky