Thursday October 27, 2011

Read: Romans 4

 

There are many people in this world trying to prove themselves, trying to earn love and respect, trying hard to fit in and win acceptance. You’ve only got to look at teenagers of the world to see what I mean.

 

And sadly, there are many people out there that trying hard to earn God’s approval and love by doing things that they think will please God. Most of the world’s religions are based on this concept - if you do enough things to please the ‘god’ you will have salvation or whatever they promise! But in reality, you can never be sure that you have done enough to please that particular god. You can never be sure that your good deeds outweigh your negative or bad deeds! Hence you’re stuck in a life of uncertainty!

 

Abraham became a model to us of one who trusted God. ‘Abraham’ believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness’. He didn’t work at earning the love and promises of God but believed God. King David wrote the same thing for us. He wrote for us that the man who has his sins covered by God, and who’s transgressions are paid for by God, is truly blessed.

 

We can never do enough good deeds to make God love us. We can never win His approval. Trying to earn God’s love is a life of misery and unfulfilment!!  But (here’s the good news), when we believe in God, when we trust that Jesus has loved us by dying on the cross and by rising to eternal life, we are freed from that burden. Trusting that God loves me, frees me from trying to earn God’s love and allows me to live in the light of God’s love.  My good works are not a seeking to gain ‘brownie points’ with God, but are an outworking of my gratitude for God’s love. I know God loves me (it’s proven at the cross of Christ), so I live my life out of gratitude. Living a life of gratitude for God’s love can never be a burden because we know that God loves us. We know that He is pleased with us and we know that each and every good work we do pleases Him, because He has already lavished us with His love.

 

Such a love from God is incredibly liberating. When a teenager knows he or she is loved by God, he/she no longer needs to goof off to try to impress the crowd. When a husband knows he is loved by God he no longer needs to put his wife down or joke about her to make himself.

 

Prayer Points:

> Pray for our teenagers as they come face to face with many anti Christian beliefs.