On my drive home from working the late shift, I often catch tidbits of various evening programs on the radio. I’m surprised at how often I sense God speaking to me through them…
Last week, I caught a bit of one of Greg Laurie’s sermons. In it, he spoke of worthiness… He mentioned how often we worry about earning God’s favor and seeing ourselves as worthy. He reminded listeners that the good or bad news (however you want to look at it) is that NONE of us is worthy. In fact, we never WERE worthy to begin with, and we NEVER will be!
Furthermore, the fantastic news is that God KNEW that and KNOWS this about us! He won’t bless or curse us according to our goodness. No, He knows of our shortcomings – that on our own we can NEVER be good enough! And, He has PLANNED for this – He sent Jesus…!
Though I’ve heard this concept before, it really struck me this time around… It struck me that though I seek to please God with the motives of my heart and the actions I take in life, I’ll NEVER be worthy of His favor! Surprisingly, this has made me feel free as opposed to discouraged! Free from striving to BE worthy and earn God’s favor so that I can get what I want out of life!
It was even more freeing to know that God knows this about me! Because He knows I’ll never be worthy, He’s already made provisions for the times which I have and WILL fail Him. That’s why He sent Christ! And why Christ sent the Holy Spirit to help us in our time of need! God’s goodness to me isn’t based on my goodness to Him. God is good because of who HE is, not who WE are! Just as Jesus said, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45) God is fair and loves all people, whether they know Him or seek Him.
So, brothers and sisters, be encouraged! There is nothing you can do to persuade God to love you more or less than He already does! Nothing you can do to change the love He has for you! His love does not waver according to our own goodness or ability to think things through to their final end. He knows of our shortcomings and expects our need for Him. He is ready to take you by the hand, just as you are… Won’t you reach out and take it?
