No Thank You, Jesus

“As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain” 2 Co 6:1.

 

I love the commercial where a man is offered a raise at work, and he thanks his boss but declines it.  Another commercial is along the same lines whereas a child declines a gift her father desires to give her.  I began thinking about how ridiculous in reality that seems, but it is the very thing we constantly do when dealing with God’s grace.  He wants to give us everything but we pick and choose which gift we will receive.  Some gifts we decline occasionally while others we reject daily, taking God's grace in vain.

 

When we are confused about a situation we are in, we take matters into our own hands, telling God ‘no thank you’ for wisdom.  When we hold onto to the wrong others have done to us, we say ,no thank you God, to forgiveness.  When others ask for our forgiveness, we slide the gift back to God so we don’t have to show grace.  When God just wants to comfort us, we won’t allow Him to because we hold anger in our hearts towards Him.  When He wants to bless us through our obedience, we say no because the task is too difficult.  God has given His word as a beautiful gift, but we say 'no thank you' when we do not make reading the Bible a daily priority.

 

We carry within our hearts ‘jars of clay’ that have the capacity to hold the fullness of Christ.  We will fill it up with the world or God’s goodness.  God has a storehouse of blessings for each one of us, but we must accept the gift He is offering.  Some gifts come through suffering, while others come as outright blessings.  The key is that we must choose to receive what He desires to give us regardless of the peripheral circumstances.  Even when the circumstances look horrible, we can have confidence that every situation will turn back into blessings.

 

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” 2 Co 4:7-9.