I was listening to the radio in my car and heard the following tuck-in advice. At the end of the day, this father reminds his children of two things: remember that I love you no matter how disobedient you were today and I love you the same no matter how many awesome and good things you did today. (This is a paraphrase because I was driving at the time)! This father sounds like God – preferring we follow Jesus’ example but knowing that this broken world rubs off on us. I think we often sort people by good and bad. In Matt 25:31 to the end, Jesus references sheep’s and goats. I don’t know why goats get a bad rap here, especially now that my daughter is raising goats. Up close and personal, I have learned that goats can be naughty. I wondered where a dear friend got the picture of two lines before our Lord. She shared being duped out of a chunk of change and remarked that that unknown person will be in the line where people have done more harm than good and she will be in the line where people have done more good than harm. For her salvation is a math story problem. Again, if that were true, Jesus did not need to suffer for us if we can save ourselves. I don’t think it is my call who goes to Heaven and who goes to hell. I just believe that God has an invitation to eternal life through Jesus and our works should follow Jesus but is not the measure of the person. Another reading (FB) today suggests there are two kinds of people: friends who I should love and enemies who I should love. Two kinds of people. That’s not easy. What I also see in these comparisons is that I can be both. I have a bruise on my arm. A seemingly nice person thought I should move and grabbed my arm. I don’t think she intended harm but I look at my blue/green arm and don’t want to be in a room with her. She is not safe. I’m reminded of the scary ending to one of the Harry Potter books when a professor, wearing a turban, was actually hiding the face of the evil on the other side of him. Are we two kinds of people? Yes, but God dispenses mercy. Isa 55:9 reads, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts”. Pursuing God is our highest pursuit. Read John chapters 4 and 6 to remember how Jesus did life perfectly as God and man. Let the guilt wash away and place the works, good AND bad, in the Almighty’s capable hands.
