What about the fine print?
We have all seen the commercials for medication, may cause headaches, nausea, anxiety, your left leg to itch, fear of clowns, barking at the moon, the list goes on and on.
When did everything in our world start to come with fine print? No one will commit to anything without looking for the fine print today.
Have you ever felt that accepting Jesus as your Lord comes with fine print?
How many times have we heard the following:
So all I have to do is believe?
What would your response be? Would you not be tempted to say, well yeah but... and then the list would begin. This list would be based on your experiences, upbringing, the church you attend etc.
The list may look something like this, Yes believe in Jesus but also:
read the Bible everyday
go to Church every Sunday
don't drink
don't smoke
don't associate with anyone who doesn't do all of the above
If you don't do all these things you might go to hell. GOD BLESS
WHY DO WE DO THIS?
There are many things in the Bible that seem necessary, and we don't know what to do with them so we make them into a list. We then treat them as a prescription on how to gain God's favor. We treat them as a way of showing God we are good enough. We treat them as a measuring stick of others worthiness.
The list of what some have done to live up to the 'fine print' are astounding. You can work for hours helping others but still wonder inside, Is this enough? Sometimes we have been checking off all the items on the list and something tragic happens. We wonder, I have been doing everything God, why is this happening to me? I thought we had a deal God. I obey, You bless.
As humans we love to keep score. It is easier to keep score and therefore be able to say my good score is larger than my bad. Reality check here, we cannot determine how 'good' we are, or how 'bad' someone else is. But, being the flawed humans we are, when we don't feel 'good' enough, we look around to fine someone who is worse so that we don't feel as bad.
What God Says!
When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment:
Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Mt 22:37–40.
Note: THE ENTIRE LAW is based on these.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you? but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Mic 6:8.
The statements are simple, yet hard to follow. They are challenging yet not complicated. These are what is asked of us. Why do we put more on ourselves than God does? Why do we put more on others than God does?
