Even as Jesus is perfect

Much warmer today, although it may get cooler this weekend.  I hope so, I keep telling Carla we need peaches to can, she keeps telling me that the best canners are not available quite yet.  However, when they are it will be hot and steaming in the kitchen as they are processed, much better if we can ‘shoo’ some of that steam outside!

Not a lot happening in our neck of the woods right now.  All the animals are sleeping in their favorite areas, Carla is at work, I have done my exercises and finishing up this posting.  Will probably grill some steaks and veggies for dinner tonight.   

1 John 1:7-10  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This was written to Christians.  It is significant in as much as John is telling them that though they have been wash clean of prior sins, they continue to sin.  They must confess, again, and ask for forgiveness, again; but God will forgive them, again.

Only Christ was perfect.  While we desire and work hard to have the mind of Christ we are still subject to this world.  Even those that would sequester themselves from the world have difficulty keeping from sin. 

While we would hope, as Christians, the sins we commit would not be as serious as those we committed before our salvation, they are still grievous to God and it can still hurt others.  I recall a point in one of Corrie Ten Boom’s books.  She was on her way to a very important engagement, fell and injured her hip.  She was hospitalized.  She was in the hospital for about a week when a young minister came into her room.  She had been asking for a minister that could pray for her healing and one was located.

She lay there in her bed, in pain and wanting to get on with her work for the Lord.  She had good reason to be upset, she had important work to do.  She said the first thing the minister asked her was if she had unconfessed sin in her life.  In her writing she made it clear that she did not appreciate that question.  She was in her 70’s, this man was much younger, she had been serving God all her life, how dare he question ‘her!’  However, he insisted and she realized that she had been focusing so much on her injury, angry over it and angry because she could not fulfill the promise she had made to be at a specific place at a specific time – working for God – that she had been treating her nurses and others badly, taking out her frustration on them.  She apologized for her bad behavior, asked forgiveness and then when prayer was made on her behave she was immediately healed – and fill with the Holy Spirit.

Corrie was an incredible person, she was used mightily by God and as a result many people found Christ.  Her message also helped heal many hearts that were torn apart due to the treatment they received at the hands of the Nazis.  From all accounts she was very humble, one person described her faith as a child has for her father.  She just believed in Him and that He would guide her at all times.

Still, in this incident, she failed to focus on God.  She was so focused on what she needed to do for Him, that she forgot to ask Him why she was in the situation she was then in.  She lived her life telling others to trust Him, to listen to Him, yet, she forgot to do that herself this time.  When she realized her sin, confessed it, she was richly blessed and was able to continue on with His work.

This was just one of many times that she states of her sins in her books.  She didn’t do that to build herself up or to make herself appear ‘humble and just like us as some writer do,’ she did that to show others that even a person of her dedication and stature in God is not perfect.  She, by the way, seldom built herself up, she let others do that, her feelings were that she was just a workman for God and did not place herself in high end status. 

No one.  No one but Christ, is perfect.  We are not perfect.  Chances are that the displeasure Corrie felt with herself over her treatment of others during this time was exaggerated in her mind, but she recognized what she had been doing was sin.  Many of the things in her books she chastised herself over, I at first shook my head, why would she concern herself with such trivial wrongs. 

But she was right and I was wrong to question.  Even the simplest, minute sin can cause a breech between us and God.  It is important that we recognize our transgressions and ask forgiveness.  If we allow little sins, little errors to not go addressed, they sit there and simmer.  Pretty soon we ask why we are not being blessed, or why is God chastising me?  When we examine ourselves we realize those unaddressed sins are creating not just a small breech, but are becoming a void and the void is growing larger, becoming a chasm, between us and God.

It usually is the little things that trip a Christian up, we aren’t going out and murdering anyone, or stealing large sums of money.  But we often tell tales about someone without realizing that instead of helping them, we are spreading gossip about them.  Or we take paper clips, or some other office item home when we know they are only for office use.  We had a rough day at work and come home and take our frustrations out on our loved ones.  If we allow our behavior to continue it doesn’t dissipate, it grows.

John tells us that we are normal, we are not some terrible person.  One of the great things about reading the Word of God is realizing we are not alone in our behavior.  We are not beyond redemption, while it is not acceptable behavior, we are not condemned without possibility of forgiveness.  No one we may look at, whether it be the Pastor, the great old saints in the church or ourselves are without sin and in the need of confession and forgiveness. 

God wants us to walk in His light.  He wants us to be perfect, even as Jesus is perfect.  He wants us to be so involved with Him that the world has no claim on our thoughts or deeds.  But He also knows that satan is hard at work and there will be times we yield to the temptations he offers.  In those times we still have a means of coming back to Him and getting our lives back on track with Him.

No one is perfect.  

But, through Christ we are forgiven – again and again.

Later, Art :-)