"Provided that you... return to the Lord, your God, and heed his voice with all your heart and all your soul... the Lord, your God, will change your lot and take pity on you." Deuteronomy 30:2-3a
We don't like to think of God's anything toward us being provisional. It's not as attractive. Surely nothing should be required of us in order for God to do anything in us or for us. God's not like that, is He? Well, the answer to that question is longer than we have time for here. But He is. My question back would be, what kind of God would He be if He just cast out a wide net of everything that He is, to everyone, everywhere, whatever the state of their will and heart and mind? That's a big question. Short answer from me: One who does not truly want us to be transformed, for real, because we will to be. Instead, He calls us to return because of Love, not because of coercion. Does He call to us? Certainly. Does He throw out the net - of invitation to real Life in Him? Always and constantly. But part of that returning is our job. The mercy and pity and Grace are there. We only have to turn toward it, toward Him, with real desire and He'll pull us on in. Father, continue to throw out the seeds of your Grace so that they will grow in us and produce the harvest of our transformation.
March 01, 2007
> 1:19 PM
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