Eraser

What kind of life do you lead... a "pencil" life or a "pen" life?

In my arrogance, I typically do crossword puzzles with an ink pen.  Not because I'm really smart, but because I like to dare myself to be mistake-free.  Inevitably, I always end up scratching out a letter or a word that I was just sure was correct that ends up being completely wrong.  What I'm left with then is a grid with a bunch of swirled pen strokes and dark blotches all over the page.  Really smart people use a pencil... you know... just in case.  But even with a pencil, it never seems to erase everything. There always seems to be the faintest hint of what was on the page prior to putting an eraser to it.  And then there are the little rolled up crumbs that come off the eraser that end up in your lap when you brush them off the page.  Even with a pencil and eraser, there are subtle reminders that a mistake was made.

So I ask you again... which kind of life do you live?  Do you feel like all that you've done in your life is permanent?  Or does if feel like you can put an eraser to a few things and clean it up a little bit?  Maybe you want a "pencil" life, but can't escape the guilty feelings that make you feel like your history has been written with a Sharpie.  Maybe you do understand that mistakes can be erased, but you still see or feel all the little crumbs and faint lines that are nagging reminders of things you've done wrong.

I'd like to think of my life as more of an "Etch-a-Sketch" kind of life.  You see, God writes most of His teachings in Sharpie.  There's not much about God's Word that is conditional.  I think that's by design, because human nature dictates that when there's wiggle room on an issue, we really wiggle.  We tend to try to bend it to suit our immediate circumstances or absolve us of a particular transgression.  But when it comes to God's record of what we've done wrong, we get to introduce the DEaS (that stands for Divine Etch-a-Sketch, in case you haven't been following along).  You see, God doesn't scratch out our sins and failures with a pen, leaving all that ugly, blotchy mess as evidence of a transgression.  And He doesn't simply put eraser to our lives and leave the ghost of an imprint and a crumby mess in our laps to deal with later.  He puts both hands on us, shakes us up a little sometimes, flips us over sometimes, and offers us a clean slate.  Mistakes are not just erased, but forgotten altogether.  If we choose to hold on to our mistakes, it's not because He wants us to.  He wants us to learn from them, lean on Him, and move on, making a better choice next time. He wants it to become our nature through practice to live the life He has planned for us... He doesn't want to hold up the paper and say "See?  See all these mistakes you made?".

This type of life is not one that requires starting as a child.  There are adult versions too.  It's not a life that's reserved for people who were raised in a godly home by perfect parents.  It's one of those things that is NOT conditional.  It's for everyone, any time.  It's never to late to drop the pen... never too late to start living a life that glorifies God and all He's done to erase our sins through Jesus Christ... never too late to see how full a clean slate can feel.

Peace,

Mike

Twice Removed

I was recently asked if I'd be willing to talk with a group of 5th and 6th grade Sunday School students about Creation.  There was no real script, no debate to be won or lost, just some open conversation about Creation and evolution to see what the kids had on their minds.  Honestly, I was sort of curious about whether or not it WAS on their minds and whether or not it was something they could or would talk about.

I thought our discussion went very well.  Sometimes having a serious conversation with children that age is like nailing Jell-O to a tree, but this group was fairly attentive and gave some honest, open answers about their ideas on Creation and evolution.  I think we all gained something valuable from the conversation.

But what struck me was something I discovered about myself while reading some articles on how to speak to someone that subscribes to evolution as the origin of life in preparation for our group discussion.  I read that many times, the person that does not believe in Creation also does not believe in God. That person many times bases their beliefs in "facts" and scientific data, or chooses to believe something that is based on nothing more than a feeling or lack thereof.  That's where the trap is set for people like me.  I've always been eager to accept the challenge of convincing someone I'm right about an idea while debating the topic on their terms.  I've always thought it was more convincing to "win" on someone else's home court.

But look what that does....

Everything I believe starts with a belief in God.  It's my faith in God that makes me whole and gives credibility to my beliefs.  It's my belief that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, conveyed by the hands of men, that lends Truth to my story.  If you are a believer in God, have you ever heard this?

"Okay... explain why Creation is the true story of how life began without using the Bible."

That sounds like a dare to me.  And I'm a real sucker for a dare like that.  So I've always started trying to debate my position while tiptoeing around what the Bible says.  I've tried to think of really cool, discreet, subconscious ways to make my "opponent" come to the same conclusion I have.

Guess what.... That will never work.

I believe in God.  The Bible is God's word.  Creation is in the Bible.  Creation is the origin of life.

Telling me to "prove" that without using God or the Bible would be like me telling that other person to prove evolution without science or theory.  Debating Creation without using the Bible is removing God not once, but twice.  Yep, twice.  That's what hit me between the eyes when I was reading.

Under those terms, God is first removed from  my life, if just for the length of the conversation with the non-believer. To argue my point without referring to God as the Creator is removing Him from my life.  If I'm not for Him, than I'm against Him.  Not proclaiming that all things were created by God is no better than denying that same truth.

Bad news for me.

God is removed a second time because in that moment I've temporarily removed any possibility of introducing God to someone who truly needs to know Him.  I've forsaken my commission to introduce God to someone just for the sake of winning on the road.  I've removed God from that person's life, too, at least on a tangible level.

Bad news for them.

God, twice removed... Gone from two people's lives for a few moments because of my stupid pride and arrogance that leads me to believe that I have the ability to make someone believe without telling the Truth.

Luckily, I cannot actually remove God from anyone's life including my own.   Luckily, God can always win... even when the odds are against it.  It's time for me to understand that God's Word is not a crutch that demands some sort of excuse, or that needs to be removed from debate to allow for a "fair" playing field.  I think I'll choose to use it whenever I can to help people understand the Truth.  I think I'll continue to study it so that the Truth becomes clearer to me.  I think I'll choose to rely on God and his Word to fill me and make me whole.  I think I'll choose to try harder to avoid getting sucked into situations that tempt me to remove God from my life, and someone else's.

Peace,

Mike