text, bribes and packaging tape

A friend and I were talking Sunday after church about bribing the children to memorize scripture. I have mixed emotions about it. I have strong opinions about bribing my own children at home for any desired outcome. Why would I feel any different with scripture? I was certainly bribed. I had a whole collection of Eisenhower Silver Dollars when I was kid; earned from committing the memory verse at Sunday School. I don’t know how Mr. Black could afford to do that. Anyway, all this made me revisit some things I ranted about way back at the beginning of my blogs. I just got it all off my chest and left it until Dr. Willard and some conversations brought it all back to the surface.
Jesus certainly offered us smaller things that were representative of larger possibilities. He performed miracles that showed His power, but were not meant to be the end. Might He have thought, “I want them to understand and receive abundant, overwhelming, joyous eternal life starting today. I want them to get to know Me so that I can work in their lives and teach them and spill out and all over everyone they come into contact with. But they’re all so satisfied as it is, to get their attention, I’ll need to tell them about how it continues after this, how the consequence of not accepting it will be even greater than missing it.”
And so we’re offered something bigger than we realize in terms of something that we know we’d want, but are content to look forward to it because we don’t see our need of it now, or even that its available to us now. I sit here with a bag of Silver Dollars that are worth nothing but the promise of what I could have if I’d spend them. I don’t use the knowledge and promise that was made known to me in the task I performed to earn them.
Jesus forgave us our sins so that we could begin to live. We’re content with having been forgiven. We understand Jesus’ gift to us like the birthday present from Uncle Bob who lives 500 miles away and made our day with a welcome package through FedEx. We’re grateful, but it really doesn’t affect our relationship with Uncle Bob. If we’d open the box, we’d find boarding passes for a journey with Uncle Bob.
Its baffling that we could be so rightfully grateful for the forgiveness and never open the life that was the reason we’re forgiven. Never spend the dollars. Never use the tickets.
The ramifications of this shallow understanding and missed opportunity go far beyond ourselves. It directly affects our ability to carry out the great commission. We can only share and offer what we’ve come to understand has been offered us. Jesus offered eternal life; we accepted avoidance of death. He offered living water; we offer fire insurance. He said, “all who are weary, come to me and I will give you rest;” we say, “turn or burn.” Jesus showed us something positive to be gained. We show something negative to be avoided.
Our study of God consists mostly of trying to understand how it is that we’re forgiven, rather than how He lives in us. We concentrate on avoiding abusing His grace rather than letting His grace permeate every cell of our physical and spiritual beings.
Its time to wake up. The Kingdom is at hand. An hour is coming, and NOW IS when true worshipers will worship in spirit and truth. We worship a God that lives in us, not one who lives abroad and remembers our birthday.