A gentleman that I know, and love, recently confided in me that He is often disheartened when he asks someone to do something and they don’t do what he asked, but instead they do something completely unrelated. And, then the person behaves as though what was done was for his benefit.

I can certainly see how that might be frustrating. Because it now leaves him to do the task he asked them to do. Or, he has to find someone else to do it.

I heard what he said. And, his comment made me ponder whether I, and how often I, do this to God.

I thought about the things that God asks of us.

God asks us to repent. Why would God ask us to repent? Because we can be forgiven and reconciled to Him. But what does repent mean? It means to do a 180 degree turn. A 180, NOT a 360. But a 360 is typically what we do. When we sin, God asks us to turn in the opposite direction and walk away from that sin. Instead, we say, “I’m sorry God, forgive me” and then we head right back in the exact same sin direction. We will stand before God to give an account When we do, I am sure we will say “oh, but I said I was sorry, I apologized (not repented), for YOU!”.

Repent, therefore, and turn to God, so that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Acts 3:19.

God asks us to gather together, as brothers and sisters in Christ. “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25.

He asks us to come together so that we can encourage one another. But, what do we do? We come to church, not to encourage, but some of us come to network. Our goal is to rub elbows with people who can help us advance our careers. Or perhaps they can help us obtain success. Maybe they can assist us with the goals we have for our children.

We come together to check a box. We go in, listen to a sermon, and we run out the door as quick as we can once the Pastor says “Amen”. Its as if we are saying to God, “There, you said come together, I did it, now back to my life”.

Or, we come simply to please other people. The faces of our parents, friends, coworkers, whom ever, light up when we walk in the door. We aren’t there to connect or build relationships or “encouraging” someone, the way that God asks. He isn’t even why we are there. We come with our own agenda. We come to accomplish what we set out to do, not what God asked.

But when we stand before Him, we will say “Oh, I was in church like you asked, I did that for YOU!”

God asks us to love one another. “This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.” John 15:12.

We like this verse. We hear it and think “Oh, I do that“. Do you/we? How often do we give food to the hungry, money to the poor, a ride to someone broken down, a word of encouragement to someone hurting? A lot of us can say “I do those things”! But, once it is done, how many of us tell anyone who will listen about that nice thing that we did? We love the praise and glory that it brings US. What about God?

Is that how God loves us? Does God come to our aid and then proclaim our situation and how He rescued us, from the roof tops for His own glory? No. God loves us so much that He meets our needs so that we can meet others. Our gratitude is what brings Him glory.

God meets our needs through the hands of others and often times before we even knew we had a need. It is how He expresses His love for us. Our love for others should be the same. Our love for others it should be done quietly with all the glory going to the only one who is deserved of it…God.

But we like it when people think we are good and say nice things about us. We bask in that glory that belongs to the one who sent us, God. But, in the end we will say “Oh, I did those things for YOU!”

God asks us to do things, but what He asks He asks for our benefit or the benefit of others, He doesn’t ask for His own benefit.

But more often than not, we either do what we want to (and not what He asked) or we do what will bring US glory and the praise of others, it doesn’t glorify God.

Some times, we just simply say NO! He asks us to repent and we just keep on sinning. He asks us to come together and encourage one another and we have better things to do…the boat, relaxing after a long week, watching whatever sporting event is on television or even worse attending our child’s sporting event and raising them to think it is ok to put things before God.

The scripture tells us that “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’.

We can say we love God, we can say we serve God, we can say the things that we do we do for God. But man looks at the outside, God sees the heart! 1 Samuel 16:7.

Repentance is no joke. It is what will either reconcile us or separate us from our Father in Heaven, for eternity. Our sin is not what separates us from God. It is our failure to repent and allow the one who paid the price for our, to be Lord of our lives, Jesus. Without Him, there is no forgiveness of sin.

When God asks something of us, whether it is repent, go to church or help someone in need, He deserves a “Yes Lord, I will go, I will do this for you!” He is worthy of our loyalty and our obedience and all the glory!

Father God, forgive us for doing 360 degree turns, forgive us for apologizing and not repenting. Lord, forgive us for checking boxes and networking when we should be waiting to hear a word from you and being obedient. Forgive us for doing things for our own honor and glory and not pointing those around us to you. And most of all Father, forgive us when we refuse to be obedient.

Help us Holy Spirit to recognize the depths of our Heavenly Father’s love for us. Help us to remember the incredible sacrifice that Jesus made so that we could be reconciled to the Father. And, Holy Spirit, help us to turn all praises and glory back to the Father, who is the only one worthy of praise. We love and honor you Lord and we pray this in your precious and holy name Jesus, Amen.

If you have never experienced the love of our Heavenly Father and if you have never truly repented of your sins, please go to our Life Preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/). There is a prayer outlined there. Please pray that prayer and repent, don’t apologize. Do it for Him, but know that He desires it for you. He wants you to experience His forgiveness, mercy and graced. He wants a personal relationship with you.

Once you’ve prayed that prayer, please reach out to me and let me know. I’d love to be in prayer with and for you.

Love ya!