The plan of salvation is a simple one. We believe in Christ, our sins are forgiven, and we follow after him. In fact, the plan is so simple we sometimes forget God has expectations of us.
Yes, God has things he requires us to do. Well, duh, we groan. That’s obvious. And it is, but just what’s obvious?
We can’t sin anymore. We understand that one. No more drunken binges. We can’t cheat on our taxes. We must treat our neighbors kindly and with respect. Love. There must be lots of love shown through good manners, helping others, and general generosity toward the less fortunate.
Is that all? How about our personal habits? Or is that private? Our waistline is personal. Our bank accounts are no one else’s business. The state of our closets? No one can tell us to organize the interior of our home. Back off, buster! We may be Christian, but that’s crossing a line!
We need to take a look at Ezra 8:33-34 to see how God views the “personal” parts of our lives.
“Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the House of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the Priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites; by number and by weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.”
To truly picture the impact of this passage, we need to understand the context. The children of Israel had just arrived in Jerusalem after seventy years of captivity. They were exhausted. Three days of rest? Bah! They’d walked the entire trip. They needed three years to recuperate.
Yet the Word says that on the fourth day, they weighed the gold and the silver, and they recorded all the weight.
To say it in modern terms, they got home from work, and they hung up their coat, put the groceries away, and took time to fix a proper meal. They did what was necessary rather than putting it off to another day.
So, when will we start that diet? Organize that closet? Mow the back yard? That’s not me, we cry. That’s right. It’s not us. It’s God. He’s the one we need to get straight with. He wants all of who we are to exemplify his nature, including that which is hidden from public view.
When we come to Christ, he changes all of us, even the parts no one else sees.
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Code: FGO.E.13.15.vp.kjv