Friday, 01 November 2024
“Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift GOD has for you and who you are speaking to,” – John 4:10a NLT
Like Apostle Paul before me, I too know a man. A man who had a loving wife with kids and a very beautiful home in a rural area. He decided he wanted to move to Johannesburg, and as was custom with men back then, he decided to take a second wife to stay within Joburg. Fate had an interesting sense of humor as the Joburg wife couldn’t conceive. It was then decided that his firstborn from the first wife should move in with him and the new wife (how they thought this was a good idea baffles me). Like a script from a local-inspired novel, the Joburg wife despised the son. When the father wasn’t there the woman would (physically and psychologically) abuse the boy. It got so bad that she fractured his arm and forced him to lie about the cause of the injury. Every morning the son would be on his best behavior in the hope of, maybe just maybe, impressing the woman. The more he tried to “behave” the more hostile the woman became. Because back then there were no cellphones, he couldn’t call his mother to inform her about the abuse. He then decided to run away from home. Because he didn’t know anyone in the area, he decided to sleep in the streets. He was homeless for months until one day he was caught by the police who returned him to his abusive stepmother. He amassed enough courage and told his father about everything, and as a result, he was returned to his own mother. To this day he always wonders what he did to make the woman hate him so much.
“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours” ( Luke 15:21 NLT). I love the account of the prodigal son and his interaction with his father. I’ve always been drawn towards the older son and not the prodigal one (same way I love and appreciate the Grinch and secretly hoped he didn’t return the gifts). In a family of three, I was the one who was always on his best behavior in the hopes that my dad would approve of me. My brothers seemed to ALWAYS break ALL the rules yet my father treated us the same. It didn’t make sense to me, and at times, I was tempted to be wayward, as clearly being a teacher’s pet hadn’t benefited me in any way.
“And all of this is a gift from GOD, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And GOD has given us this task of reconciling people to him” (2 Corinthians 5:18 NLT). What manner of love is this? GOD, through his compassion, love, and grace reconciled us back to Him. This was not earned but was freely given. IT’S A GIFT, let me say that again, IT’S A GIFT. When you truly understand and comprehend that you did nothing to be showered with this divine love, you did nothing to deserve this love, then you can’t help but be compassionate and loving towards those who are weak. We judge and condemn others because we haven’t fully come to the revelation of this grace. Because if GOD’s love has fully manifested itself in us and through us, we would forward the same courtesy to those who feel undeserving. There’s a saying that goes, “Broken people break others”, then the opposite should be true, “Loved people should love others”. So where is the disconnect?
When you realize that you don’t have to work so that GOD may love and forgive you, as a Father, He only sees the best in us. He sees us for who we’re made to be, sees us for who we can be, not who we are. Our shortcomings and imperfections have not removed us from His loving heart. As far as East is from the West (Psalm 103:12). This is the message the world needs to hear, not our judgment, but that GOD has, and continues, to call them towards Himself. They must come just as they are, as He is a GOD, the architect and author of reconciliation. This is the message, this is the gospel, this is the good news.
“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight (NLT),
Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit (NIV)” Psalm 32:1-2. The LORD doesn’t count your sins against you. Unlike the Joburg wife who still punishes and abuses you even when you are on your best behavior, GOD loves and embraces you when you are at your WORST. This is the message.
When you truly understand and comprehend that you did nothing to be showered with this divine love, you did nothing to deserve this love, then you can’t help but be compassionate and loving towards those who are weak. We judge and condemn others because we haven’t fully come to the revelation of this grace. Because if GOD’s love has fully manifested itself in us and through us, we would forward the same courtesy to those who feel undeserving.
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