Whenever we purchase an item by paying the exact amount for it, we do not receive any change. The only time we receive change is when we give more than what was requested.
In life, some of us are desiring, needing, or expecting change, but we don't want to give anything extra in order to receive that change. We complain (or brag) about how long we've done this thing or that thing and yet haven't seen any change. Perhaps we haven't seen any change because we haven't done anything beyond the bare minimum. Perhaps it's because we have been merely going through the motions without really expecting change, forgetting that, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God....and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). Diligent people never stop at the bare minimum or an even exchange. Diligent people stop at nothing.
If we are willing to accept that God's ways are not our ways, and that God can do exceedingly, abundantly above all we ask or imagine, perhaps we will begin to change our expectations to be more in line with God's abilities instead of our impossibilities.
Perhaps some of us have enough faith to expect change, but we have never accepted or understood the profound truth that faith without works is dead. Faith should certainly precede and provide the foundation for our works, but if we never act upon that faith or act like people of faith, we may not ever experience miraculous change in our lives. When we fail to live out the faith that lives within, we simply remain sideline observers of God's transformative power, never testing the waters enough to yield a testimony.
If we've been living a life that makes no cents, perhaps it's because we've been playing it too safe. Sometimes our concern for comfort, acceptance or loyalty to tradition prevent us from going all out for the Lord. When Jesus gave His life for us, He gave extravagantly, going far beyond what any of us would have done. As a result of His abundant giving, He rightfully expected to see abundant change coming back to Him.
We are that change.
When we truly encounter the risen Saviour, Jesus Christ, our Lord, we cannot possibly remain the same. Our minds become renewed, our priorities shift, our understanding and appreciation of life deepens, our actions and reactions change, for as Paul says, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).
As we prepare our hearts to celebrate the sacrificial death and triumphal resurrection of Jesus Christ, let's make sure we are not being stingy, stubborn or slacking with the lives we have been given and the new life that has been extended to us through Jesus' shed blood. After all, Jesus lived and loved in a way that didn't make any sense--it was exceedingly above and beyond our senses.
If we truly appreciate His example of unconditional love and uncommon courage, we will never be satisfied living a life that doesn't make any cents--one that yields no change, one that is unfruitful, unproductive or untested. Since we are children of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, it doesn't make any sense that our lives wouldn't make any cents.
BNcouraged!
Rev. Karen
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