Scars

I got a great present for Father’s Day. Kade was sitting in my lap, drawing on a piece of paper that was on a clip board. I was focused on watching a movie on TV. Once he finished his masterpiece, he decided to turn the clip board around. “Look Daddy!” he exclaimed as he shoved the clipboard towards me. It was then that it happened. The metal ring on the top of the clipboard struck me in the face, missing my left eye by about an inch. It freaked me out, and Kade felt badly about it. The good news is that I survived. Kristi tried to console me. All she could say was “Happy Fathers Day!”

The truth is, I am not nearly as worried about the scars Kade gives me as I am about the scars I might give him. In reality, we all need to be careful how we impact others around us by our actions, attitudes, and words. It’s so easy to forget that what we say and do really affect others in both positive and negative ways. Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians. 8:9 (NLT): But you must be careful with this freedom of yours. Do not cause a brother or sister with a weaker conscience to stumble.

That’s why I don’t drink alcohol, watch rated R movies, listen to mainstream music, or wear two piece bathing suits (just kidding on that one). I want to be careful not to say or do anything that would “scar” another person by hindering them from coming to Christ or moving forward in their current relationship with Him.

I want to challenge you to examine your current attitudes, actions, and words. Are they honoring to God? Are they helping those around you or are they scaring everyone in your vicinity? Let’s choose to make a difference by changing the small things we do that affect others in enormous ways.

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His Grasp

John 10:27-30 (NLT) My sheep recognize my voice; I know them, and they follow me. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them away from me, [29] for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. So no one can take them from me. [30] The Father and I are one."


I hate cleaning carpet. The thing is that we have white carpet in the house that we bought 2 years ago...and we have three boys under the age of 6. So, you do the math. Needless to say, the perfectionist in my has had to die many little deaths as I looked at the stains...however, after I cleaned the carpet, it looked AWESOME!

Then, it happened. A couple of days ago, I poured myself a Black Cherry Vanilla Diet Coke (it rocks!) and was enjoying a bit of TV. Having no end table, I sat my drink down on the carpet. Kade, my oldest, came bopping along and plowed right into it. Now, we have mostly clean carpet with a big brown stain on it. I became furious (not at Kade for acting like a five-year-old) but because all that hard work went down the drain (sort of). Kade's reaction was obvious. He didn't laugh this one off. He saw how frustrated I was....and he sincerely apologized: "Daddy, I am so sorry." (He said that with Puss in Boots eyes from Shrek 2).

Now picture this: what if I told him to pack his bags and get out of my house and off my carpet? What kind of a father would you think I was? You would want to report me to the authorities for abuse and neglect...and for being a jerk. As crazy as that sounds, that's the way many people live in their relationship with God. There are many who think that a person can lose his salvation. This may seem a bit narrow-minded, especially if you hold to this belief, but bear with me. I think people who believe that they can lose their salvation fall into one of two categories:

1. They don't really want to completely commit their lives to Christ in the first place. They think that if they can freely choose to follow Christ, then, they can freely get out of the relationship with the same amount of ease. (By the way, I know many people who treat marriage the same way...and they don't stay married very long.) If you enter any kind of relationship (a job, a marriage, a family, a friendship) with a way out clearly in mind, you will take it when the tough times come...and the tough times will come. I could cite numerous verses against this line of thinking. The best one is Matthew 22:37 (NLT): "Jesus replied, 'You must love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, ALL your soul, and ALL your mind.'" God wants a total committment--not half-hearted quips. Jesus completely died on the cross, so that you will completely live for Him. I know what some of you are saying, "But I can never completely and consistently love God with ALL of me, so I can't be saved, or I can't keep it..." That leads me to the second category.

2. They have a distorted view of God the Father and how salvation really works. Some people live as if God hates them. What Bible are the reading? (they probably aren't reading) God hates SIN, and not the SINNER. But, people still live as if they will lose their salvation if they screw up. There are two things to consider with this. One, God would stink as a Father if He walked out on us--EVER. Remember, what God did when Adam and Eve deliberately sinned in the Garden? God went after them. Who was hiding: God or man? Have you ever heard of the word, GRACE? Secondly, if you believe that your sin will make God abandon you, then you must also believe that your good works save you in the first place. Here's a verse to ponder: Ephesians 2:8 (NLT) "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God."

I've always heard that we should do our best to grip the Hand of God as tightly as possible. I think that's wise. God says over and over again that when you draw close to Him, He will draw close to you (Jeremiah 29:13, James 4:8a). However, when your world caves in, when you want to give up, when you are too weak to breathe, take comfort in the fact that He is holding you...and, to quote Mercy Me, "the one thing that is stronger than your strife is His grasp."

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