Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: GRATE (11/19/15)
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TITLE: GRATE | Previous Challenge Entry
By Steve Thomas
11/26/15 -
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Can you imagine someone getting hired on for their dream job? The benefits are out of this world and their boss is one of a kind. If they made a mistake, all they had to do is tell him what they did wrong. He gave them a policy manual and asked that we spend some time each day reading it. They read it, but didn’t like it. So the employee decided that he just wasn’t going to follow it. The boss would remind the employee everyday about the importance of studying the manual, knowing the manual, and applying it to their life every day. The employee didn’t care. As time went on, the employee stopped reading the policy manual and no longer did what it said.
Who is the employee? The employee is us. The boss is God and the policy manual is the Holy Bible. The Bible, once a book that served as our source of encouragement and hope is now only looked at on Sunday’s, if at all. The God we serve is a forgiving God, but we take His forgiveness and continue to thumb our noses at His word.
Consider God’s 2 commandments. He asked that we love Him with all we have, and that we extend love to our neighbors exactly the same way that we want love to be extended to us. These days, love is the last word that would be used to define our feelings towards our neighbors, or God. God does not hold us hostage to our mistakes. He wants us to respect and revere Him.
If we are not careful of the little things, we will not only hurt our neighbors, we will dishonor God. Think of something as simple as the word “great.” We often use it describe God’s faithfulness, but if we rearrange the letters (G-R-A-T-E), we describe the process of shredding someone or tearing them down.
You might ask: “can it really be that simple? Can obedience and disobedience really be separated by the rearranging of a couple of letters?” yes, in fact, they can. When you are spreading the gospel one moment and the gossip shortly after, you are going from great to grate. When you are praising God from whom all blessings flow, and later judging your neighbor because you don’t believe they deserve what they have, then you are talking about grateness. The next time you do some comparison shopping and lay in the bed thinking about what you deserve, you are practicing grateness.
The next time you feel compelled to think on grateness, grab a piece of paper and a pen. Write down on one side of the paper all of the things that God has done for you. On the other side of the paper, write down all the things that God gave you that you deserved. Thank God for all of the things that you have earned.
Repeat when necessary
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