Jump Start # 3588

1 John 4:19 “We love, because He first loved us.”

  We’ve had a couple of our grandchildren staying with us for over a week. One is five years-old and his little brother is three. We are around our grandchildren as often as we can be and we’ve had others spend the night. But this was the longest we have kept any of them and this is the youngest without parents. They have been so good and tons of fun. The playing and the talking, especially the five-year-old, never ceases. He’s into bugs and robots. And, when you play, he’ll let you know if you are not playing right according to the world of robots. “Robots can’t do that, PJ,” he’d tell me at a volume that could rattle the windows. General Grievous, from the world of Star Wars is his favorite.

And, having spent a week playing bugs and robots, it got me thinking about our Lord. The Lord did not make us robots. He gave us a free will. And, there are times that free-will of ours doesn’t make us much like our Heavenly Father. He’s perfect and we’re not. He always says the right thing, and we don’t. He’s pure and there are times when we are not. He’s kind and gracious and there are days we are selfish and rude.

If the Lord would have made us all spiritual robots, He could have conquered this world and made it a safe and moral refuge. Imagine major cities and there is absolutely no crime. Zero. Imagine people telling the truth all the time, every time. Imagine, people helping each other out. Imagine the poor being taken care of. Imagine church buildings packed every Sunday and everyone worshipping the Biblical fashion.

But, the Lord didn’t make us robots. He gave us a free will. He allowed Adam to eat what he wasn’t supposed to. He allowed Cane to kill his brother. He allowed Aaron to build a golden calf. And, He allows you and I to think and feel the way we want to. Sometimes those thoughts and feelings are wonderful. Sometimes that are shameful and wrong.

Now, some thoughts for us:

First, in many ways, God doesn’t have a freewill. He’s God you say and He can do anything He wants to. Technically, that’s true. But, God cannot lie. He cannot and still be who He is. God cannot be untrue and remain the God that He is. The choice of wrong darkens our character. There is no darkness in God. He does not tempt. He does not lie.

Second, though our freewill often leads to the wrong choices, God still loves us. He loves us when we are unlovable. He loves us when we have not thought about Him. He loves us when the consequences of our free choices have gotten us into some real trouble.

Third, it is God’s desire that we desire Him. Robots are programmed. They can only do what they are programmed to do. They can’t act on their own. We have freedom. We have choice. We can chose God. To say you are sorry because you have to, isn’t really genuine. To say thank you because someone tells you to say that, isn’t coming from your heart. But when we freely and willingly turn to God, that is the expression of our heart.

God loves us. That’s amazing. It’s amazing because we sometimes act like we don’t love Him. He loves us when we have done wrong. God has never done wrong. He loves us when we ignore Him. God’s love is simply amazing.

The boys have returned home. They missed their parents. Memaw and PJ are in recovery mode. I wonder how 100+ year old Abraham did it. The house is a lot quieter. The house stays picked up. There is nothing like the imagination, curiosity and fun that comes from a couple of little boys. I’ll not forget this week. I hope years from now, they will remember.

Bugs. Robots. God.

Roger