A New Year of Blessings

Luke 13:1-5, "Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, 'Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.'"

Be careful of believing that God's general blessings, or the absence of significant trials are confirmations of His favor. They are not!!!

I am deeply convicted by the passage above. I am instructed not to think that I am in some way more favorable to God in and of myself because I love Him, or because I teach His Word, or because I am seeking to pattern my life after His Son. Anything that is favorable to God in me is because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, imputed to me as a result of repentance and faith which were also gracious gifts, entirely unmerited.

I find that Christians, wait, NO! . . . I find that I am too often impatient with, judgemental over, and resentful of the wickedness of wicked people. I find it much harder to give grace than to receive it. Viewing the consequences unsaved folks experience for their sin as "deserved" is as natural as breathing. Viewing them with sincere compassion takes concentrated effort. Worst of all I can view a calamity in the world at large as God working to provoke repentance and faith in the faithless. As in, I know why that tower fell on them . . . God was judging them for rejecting His ways. Yet the above Scripture proves that conclusion to be hasty and wrong.

I am not better than people who do not know Jesus, not in myself. I too need to repent.
I am not more deserving of God's blessings than people who do not yet believe, I too need to repent.

Mt 5:45, "For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

God's grace is everywhere drawing hearts to Himself. God's judgment is everywhere, provoking wayward hearts to repentance, and I am still in the thick of it, grateful for eyes to see and ears to hear, and a heart that longs for His ways to be more fully formed in me.

Yes another year. As it begins I have health and strength and an opportunity to respond in repentance and faith to the God who made me. Just like everyone else who lives on my street, and in my state, and on this earth.