If God Washed his Hands
My wife had a CD playing today for our grandson. It is a group of gospel songs sung by little children. They sing it with such innocence and passion that I found myself singing along.
One song gave me pause to think. It is a song I sang when I was a kid in Church. “He’s got the Whole World in His Hands.” It is a wonderful description of God’s love for us all. The thought that came to mind has been playing with my mind ever since. That is why I needed to vent it so I decided to write about it.
Over the many millions of years that God has patiently worked to try to make us more loving and kind only to watch us allow hate drive us into crimes, war and many other forms of bigotry it would not be surprising if many times throughout history God has been tempted to wash his hands of the whole thing.
In a manner of speaking he did with the great flood. Only Noah and his family survived that one.
God has watched patiently as even the great ones like Moses and King David went astray. How many times has he had to forgive you and me? I am sure I have been the recipient more times than I deserve. Yet, he keeps waiting and working to help us realize our spiritual potential.
If you have read the bible as many times as I had even before I was out of grade school, you know that the Ten Commandments are not a cake walk. Jesus came to relieve us of some of the burden but he also made some more demands.
For instance, he said if we hate our brother we are guilty of murder in our heart, or at least we should be accountable. If we look at a woman with lust we are already are guilty of adultery in our hearts. He said that when we do not forgive another who has wronged us we have no reason to believe God will forgive us. If we do not feed the hungry we have not done this for him. As Jesus put is, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
We are all a little upset sometimes with our leaders in Washington. They make many promises to get us to vote them into office and then swiftly forget the promises and do what they want once they are in power.
The fact of the matter is this. We are not much better if we turn away from someone in need without trying to help in some way. We all find it very easy to turn our heads and look the other way.
We are taught as followers of Christ to welcome the poor with open arms. As Jesus said it, “for some have entertained Angels unawares.” “As you have not done it to one of the least of one of these, you have not done it unto me.” “Some have entertained Angels unawares.” These are two poignant statements from the Master.
We must keep in mind that God gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. The question arises, what does this have to do with acts of kindness or the lack of forgiveness on our part?
Those acts are like milestones. If you cannot forgive, if you do not feel compelled to do good to those less fortunate than you, you do not believe in him.
What then, if I follow the Ten Commandments, if I do good deeds, if I forgive others who have wronged me, this is my ticket to heaven? NO! Actually these things come because we have accepted Jesus Christ and because we have confessed our sins and are constantly aware of our need for his love, help and yes, forgiveness.
You can’t put the cart before the horse. The works come as a labor of love for the one who paid the price for our sins. The works earn nothing; they simply reflect our wondrous love for our maker.
In other words, if you are trying to earn your way into Heaven, you will find the door closed. If you simply learn to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and thy entire mind, the works simply become as natural as breathing.
Let us all take some time to reflect on our lives and never cease to try to know him better.
Well done, Lew...you are one of God's devoted embassadors. Keep writing, my friend. I really like your offering here.
God Bless
Lena