One of the greatest gifts God has given to us is the power of choice. One of the greatest curses is the power of choice. It is a gift because we get to choose who we become. It is a curse because in the end we can blame no one but ourselves for who we have become. It was not our DNA. It was not our environment. They were the tools we were given to build a person. With a hammer and saw we can build a palace. With a hammer and saw we can build an outhouse. The end product is the fruit of discipline or lack of.
Truthfully, I would like to blame someone. But the old line “The devil made me do it” is nothing more than the excuse of cowards looking for an easy way out of taking responsibility for themselves. In I Timothy 1 Paul calls himself the chief of sinners. At first we are tempted to think he is merely playing the humble bit, but after getting to know Paul from reading all of his work that we have, we realize he meant it from the depths of his heart. It wasn’t because he had persecuted the church as Saul. It was because he got a glimpse of the depravity of the human heart. He knew all the stoning, shipwrecks, snakebites, etc. were nothing compared to what it really took to earn a place in the kingdom. What it required was the righteous death of God Himself.
Paul chose to use the education, the talent, the brilliance to build a palace where God could dwell. It is what God wants from us. Some people are afraid of the message of grace lest salvation be too easy. If they think it is easy it is only because they have not yet grasped just how difficult it is to accept real grace. It’s called accepting responsibility.
Written by Roger Bothwell on November 16, 2010
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org