A company I once worked for had a safety program that they took quite seriously. One day the plant manager came up with this idea that all of us supervisory staff would have these “tickets”, and whenever we saw someone violating a safety rule, we were supposed to write them a violation ticket. Well, being a faithful employee… working “as unto the Lord”, I did just that. I wrote up the meanest, toughest guys. I trusted the Lord to protect me, even when they hinted that I might have an “accident”, and if I did, it would be better if it happened to be fatal, as it wouldn’t count as a lost-time accident, so they wouldn’t lose their safety bonus. We also had a pastor of a small church working there, whose church wasn’t big enough to support him. He was a real kind, soft-spoken guy, and everybody liked him. I wrote him up, too.
Odd thing though… none of the other supervisors ever seemed to see any violations. Not a single ticket. I was hated… oh, for obeying God’s Word… of course. Persecuted for my faith, you know? No fun. I wished there was some way I could do my job without leaving my office. Then I wouldn’t have to write anybody up, because I wouldn’t see anything. I dreaded going to work. Finally, I told the boss that I was not going to write up one more person, until somebody else did. So he went out and walked through the plant, and wrote up a couple guys, just to show support for his own rules. He dropped the whole deal a few days later.
Do you know why I thought I HAD to write these guys up? It’s because I thought that, if I didn’t write them up, God would write ME up. Is it any wonder, that in the 8 years I worked there, I can’t remember anyone ever asking me how they could have the wonderful life I had. They didn’t like getting written up, so why would they want the life of someone who lived in fear of being written up by God? All the great end-time revelation I could have shared with them could not override the [mis]representation of God that showed in my life.
Then it goes on. My wife doesn’t do right? Write her up. My kids don’t do what I tell them? Write ‘em up. My co-workers are doing something they’re not supposed to? Write ‘em up. I see a brother or sister doing wrong? Write ‘em up.
Please don’t misunderstand. This is NOT to say you should ignore all the wrong-doing you see. Like not discipline your kids, or never reprove your brother, or not report criminal behavior to the authorities. This is about an attitude, a mindset, that instant reaction in your spirit. Does it reflect the true nature of God?
Do you see how a mistaken view of who God is, can affect every area of a person’s life? Especially, as a Christian who believes you should be like your heavenly Father, you will deal with others according to how you think God deals with you. You just will. Without trying. Without even being aware of it. If you see the great love and mercy and forgiveness of God toward you, you will just naturally show the same toward others. If you see God as coldly keeping a book of everything you ever do wrong, you may just as coldly keep such a book on your brother, or sister, or husband, or wife. And you might even think it’s the RIGHT thing to do. Maybe you bring up stuff they did wrong YEARS ago, and then think your relationship is growing cold because THEY have such a hard heart.
What if, one day, you happen to find a secret book your husband or wife is keeping on you? In it you find written, everything you’ve ever done that they didn’t like, from the day you met, to something you did earlier that day? It’s so obvious that you will not have a warm, intimate marriage. How can anyone imagine that they could have a warm, intimate relationship with God, if they see Him keeping such a book on them?! …Writing ‘em up for every little thing. Yes, the Bible says God has books. But for whom? His bride? His bride’s name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but He knows where she stands with Him, without a book to tell Him anything. They are wrapped in each other’s arms, sharing the most intimate feelings of their hearts. They KNOW each other! It’s LOVE! They live the Song of Solomon, and 1 Corinthians 13, without even trying!
I know there are doctrines of “grace” out there, that take this way too far, and distort the love and mercy of God, and leave out the seriousness of sin, and the holiness of God, and judgment, and personal responsibility. Trust me… I am NOT going there.
What I experienced when God showed me how He saw me, was an overwhelming fear of God; complete exposure to the light, with no place to hide; deep remorse, with NO excuses; and a feeling of being totally ‘undone’… but NOT ONE OUNCE OF CONDEMNATION! ZERO! NONE! Only a love of God that I could not explain! I was expecting the hammer of judgment to fall, but it never did! Why? How? None of it fit my theology. I had to let go of everything that I thought I knew, and let Him teach me. Step by step, He has revealed from His Word, what it was that I experienced. And yes, I’m still learning. Now I’m just asking Him, that somehow, He gives me the words, and a way to share some of it, so that somebody else can know the joy and freedom of His love. God is SO good!
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