Ever heard a Christian respond to a compliment, "Oh, it's not me. It's all God."? Yeah, me too. And I understand the thought and the understanding of not trying to take credit for something God has obviously done in our lives, or through us --But . . .(knew that was coming didn't you?)
But I think to a non-Christian or a struggling Christian or a new Christian that sounds kind of magical and hocus-pocusy.
Like this morning I had a yummy piece of cinnamon toast for breakfast. Now, am I going to take credit for making cinnamon taste delicious, or giving sugar it's sweetness, or the physics behind toasting a piece of bread? No. But did I make sure there was bread, butter and cinnamon sugar in the house? Yes. Did I put it all together? Yes. I had a part to play in God's creation of that piece of cinnamon toast.
Sometimes I feel in our eagerness and desire to make sure God gets all the credit we so often forget to give him, we take ourselves out of the equation. Then those not familiar with God see our successes, our victories as something beyond their reach. When we don't acknowledge that the miracle began with the willful turning of our will toward God's will, it looks too easy. We tend to not share our dedication to prayer, or seeking Godly counsel, or our attendance in worship when it's the last place we want to be, through those times of failure, disappointment, and heartache.
Jesus putting skin on was all about God making himself accessible. Why do you think his teachings involved things like a lamp, a coin, and seeds? One of my favorite quotes is by Anonymous - "The Word was made flesh, and then theologians made it word again."
When do I make access to God hard? Why?
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