Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Awards Day

Good Tuesday morning! The thunderstorm season brings a few things we don't always enjoy to their fullest. Strong winds blowing things down or around the yard, hailstones that knock holes in stuff, and the always fun washout of roads and bridges. These are awards we might rather refuse given the chance. At the local elementary school this morning, the children have an awards day they look forward to, not the least of which is the awarding of summer vacation. As adults, we don't get an awards day very often. In fact, you or I may have trouble remembering the last time we attended an awards ceremony where honors came our way. If you don't happen to be some sort of athlete or celebrity, awards can be kind of sparse in life. Then, when an award of some kind does come our way, we are often left feeling inadequate or undeserving for some reason. How do others handle this thing so well? Who knows, maybe that other person has the same feelings but manages to conceal it better.

An award day will arrive when our Lord Jesus gives us what we deserve. Now that is used in a vaguely threatening manner here in our culture, but I don't think Jesus had that in mind for His return. No one would look forward with joyful anticipation to getting what we deserve when it comes to sin and punishment. However, the love of Jesus took care of that on the cross. Grace and mercy says that when Jesus proclaims an award day, it is to give us something wonderful. When the moment arrives and we start to feel inadequate, Jesus may have something better for us to feel.

Joy and peace to you,
Bucky

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