Last night our dog, Penny, was acting kind of strangely. She was just so restless and couldn’t stay still. Usually by 10 PM Penny is either curled up on the couch beside Lauri asleep or she is laying on my lap in my chair. (Yeah… a 75 pound yellow lab likes to lie on my lap.) But last night she would pace around the room, and then stand in front of Lauri and just stare at her. She would then walk over to my chair and lay her chin on my leg… her signal for “I want to get up on your lap” where she waits patiently for me to pat my leg to give her permission to jump up. However, last night she just stood there with her chin on my leg, but wouldn’t get up.
I honestly cannot remember her acting like that before last night. She also had a look about her that seemed to communicate that she had been in trouble for doing something she shouldn’t have done, but try as I might, I couldn’t think of anything she had done that would warrant such behavior. It was weird and unusual, and she would not lay down beside Lauri or lay on my lap and she ignored the encouragement to do so.
Her behavior bothered Lauri more than it did me. Lauri kept trying to get her to lay beside her or get up on my lap, and while Penny would respond to Lauri’s voice — nothing curbed her restless, contrite behavior. I guess I was just more suspicious — just what did that dog do that we simply weren’t aware of yet? Why else look and act so… well… guilty.
I ponder, does God ever have a similar impression of us? While God certainly would be aware of any “bad behavior” on our part, He most certainly is also aware of our restless spirits whenever we feel like we don’t “measure up” to what we might consider to be “good
Christian behavior.” Many times outside influences (and sometimes even other Christians) are quick to point out the
deficiencies of our faith. We have read the words, “Be holy as I am holy,” (1 Pet. 1:15) but misinterpret the meaning, and strive for some sort of moral perfection that will always elude us. I really hate the feeling that I might have disappointed God, but when I am tempted to slide into some melancholic self-deprecating attitude I remember one thing… GRACE.
God’s lavish grace. When I fall to temptation… grace. When I don’t love my neighbor… grace. When I fail to act like Christ… grace. When I don’t yield to the prodding of the Holy Spirit… grace. God’s remarkable… yeah, you know it’s coming… amazing grace. While it is true that the grace of God for his people is never to be an excuse for inappropriate Christian behavior (Romans 6), it is also true that we have been made righteous in Christ and not by our own actions. God judges us as His holy people based upon the merit of Christ — not on our merit.
When you are tempted to slide into a works-based, performance-oriented faith, remember the remarkable, amazing grace of God gifted to us in Christ. You don’t need to be restless guilty before him — you have been made right by Christ — and God sees you just-as-if-you-have-never-sinned. (Romans 5:1-2)
As the old hymn states: Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt! Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured, There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled. Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin!
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