Good morning,
Have you ever met a grumpy Christian? I have met a whole bunch of them as I have been traveling through life. What could possibly make someone who has trusted Jesus for eternal life become someone who has such a gloomy, critical outlook on the events that our loving Father has planned for each of us? How can someone who has celebrated the truth of having all of their sins forgiven be so critical of the sinners around them who have benefitted by the same loving Savior they so gladly celebrate? How could folks who celebrate the fact that they have been given eternal life become so terrified by the fact of leaving their earthly body behind? How is it that someone on the worship team or the church choir can sing the songs of the world with a lot more excitement then when they are worshipping the God of the Universe. And then again, what about those of us who preach and teach about the love of God and the joy of serving Jesus, and then find ourselves angry with our students and church members and wonder why they don’t love us like they should?
Could it be that we have adopted the world’s definition of that most critical word in life? Our Enemy has done a wonderful job of convincing our sin filled world that the word Love is defined by the idea that, If you love me you will give me what I want? When we use that definition of love, we expect that those we love will give us what we need to feel safe and valuable. We just know that if they say they love us they owe us what any reasonable person would expect. When John the Baptist’s followers were confused about who Jesus was, he was very clear about the position of this man. He said, The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands. (John 3:35) John was convinced that Jesus was the Son of God, and what he did was what God wanted him to do. What he said next may be a clue that will help us to understand ourselves or those around us who claim a relationship with God, but live the life of a grump. All of us will be grumpy from time to time, but when it is a way of life, we need to think very hard about what John had to say. Next he said, Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” It wasn’t only John the Baptist that pointed this out. Jesus and the Prophets and the Apostles all agreed that the test of genuine faith in God wasn’t what God was doing to us. The test that proves that we have a genuine relationship with God is our willingness to obey and love and serve the God who has saved us. Furthermore, if we have a genuine love for God, God will also give us a genuine love for the folks all around us.(1John 4:21) Dear Lord, please help us to see ourselves and others like you see us.
John 3:36 And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”
Roy Wisner
