Heaven's Fridge

I learned something new that blew my mind: God delights in us. I know that shouldn't have blown my mind but I get so wrapped up in my sins and failures that I forget that holiness is possible in this life and to what end we were created. We were created for good works and God works in us to will and to work for his good pleasure. In this, He also doesn't expect us to be perfect or the best at what He calls us to. As Kevin DeYoung writes, "If God only accepted perfect obedience from his children, the Bible would have nothing good to say about Job or David or Elizabeth or anyone else except for Jesus."

In one of my favorite books, John Piper writes:

Sometimes people are careless and speak disparagingly of all human righteousness, as if there were no such thing that pleased God. They often cited Isaiah 64:6 which says our righteousness is as filthy rags. It is true–gloriously true–that none of God’s people, before or after the cross, would be accepted by an immaculately holy God if the prefect righteousness of Christ were not imputed to us (Romans 5:19; 1 Cor. 1:30;2 Corinthians 5:21). But that does not mean that God does not produce in those “justified” people (before and after the cross) an experiential righteousness that is not “filthy rags.” In fact, he does; and this righteousness is precious to God and is required, not as the ground of our justification (which is the righteousness of Christ only), but as an evidence of our being truly justified children of God. (Future Grace, 151)

It is possible, by God's grace, to please Him through our acts of devotion and service. Many scriptures point to actions that believers can take that will be pleasing to God. DeYoung sums it up by saying, "Basically whenever you trust and obey, God is pleased."

I have this picture in my mind of God being my father and I bring Him a really crappy drawing of a castle or  a landscape where the sun is the upper right hand corner and is inexplicably wearing sunglasses, and God sees the love behind the drawing and doesn't care about the quality of the drawing. He delights in it, like someone might delight in a Monet and He takes the drawing and puts it on His fridge and He smiles every time He sees it. He doesn't hang my sins on His fridge, He hangs my attempts to serve Him and love Him and He cherishes them.

 "Lord, search my heart, create in me something clean. Dandelions, You see flowers in these weeds."

An Unfinished Painting

One of the many jobs that I've held in my life is painting and like every job, I had annoying coworkers. These two guys in particular had an annoying habit; because I was the junior guy on the crew they would often walk by the wall I was working on and point out things that were unfinished, even though I had not yet reached that part of the wall. It was incredibly frustrating to be scolded for not being perfect and completed when I wasn't close to being perfect and completed. The walls were works in progress.

Last week, I was doing a favor for someone involving painting and while prepping a wall to be painted, I remembered those guys. Strangely, I wasn't angry or bitter but I was grateful because of where my mind went next; God does exactly the opposite of those guys. When He walks by the unfinished wall that is my life, He doesn't point out the drips or brush marks but instead He sees the perfectly painted, fresh wall that it will be upon completion. He is also the one doing the painting; with the blood of His Son, He covers the flaws and imperfections, slowly making me a perfect work of art. Sometimes the prep for His brush requires painful scraping but I know that a master is at work, and He is making me better and He will complete it. 

The toughest part of this for me is seeing myself and others in this same way. I see my flaws and I know the pain and hurts I've caused. I don't always believe that I will be a fully finished painting and instead believe that the sins and imperfections will always be there. Doubts creep in. Faith wavers. But God keeps painting. When I look at myself, I need to be aware of my sins, confess them and seek repentance but I also need to see the finished work that is mine/me by the work of Jesus. This is also how I need to see others. When a fellow Christian wrongs me, or when I see someone's sin, I need to trust in that work of Christ. He is working on them, just like me. He sees them as a perfect, finished work, just like me. I need to love them as Christ loves them; not focusing on their imperfections but rejoicing in the painting that's already been done and the painting that will be done. Encouragement for the grace I see, not a focus on the sin that is bound to be there, should be the norm in every one of my interactions.

 So, Lord, give me your eyes.

See: 1 Philippians 1:6 and 1 John 3:2