Today’s scripture: Acts 15:1-21 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Brenda Corbello):
After all the discussions, debates, and arguments, James finally reached the conclusion that there are only three really important things to consider with regard to our spirituality — take care of your relationship with God, take care of your relationships with those around you, and take care in your relationship to yourself — and I believe it should be in that order.
It hurts me to hear someone say that I have to do a certain thing, or not do a certain thing, in order to be right with God. If God looks into my soul and sees someone who loves and serves God with all my heart, will I really be rejected as God’s child if I don’t measure up to someone’s “standard”, or if I don’t keep all the rules? I have a hard time conceiving of God as being that needy. There are too many religions with too many different sets of rules for me to believe that God only approves of one set.
Additionally, I have seen too many turn away from God after being told that if they did not follow certain rules that they would not be welcomed. I have a friend who will not attend church because someone told her mother — on her death bed! — that if she were not baptized, she would not go to heaven. This crushed my friend and her mother. My friend still tears up when she talks about it. These are good people, who have been injured as a result of an irrational hard line.
I hope I can be a witness to this lesson from James. I must take care to believe that God is above all else, and live like that’s so. I must take care to treat others in a manner that they can see God’s love in my interactions with them. And, I must take care of myself in a way that illustrates my understanding that my life is a gift from God, and I should treat it as so. Hopefully, if I can do these things, my friend will see God in a different light, and learn that she is welcome just as she is.
If I do these things, how can my relationship with God be any less than what it should be?
Thought for the day: Please help me to refrain from trying to out-god God. It is only when I think I know better that I get into real trouble.
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