1:30 on the microwave and we have popcorn…
So often in our society we have gotten used to the idea of instant everything. Many of us (that are old enough, or have parents that are old enough) still remember the old time poppers for popcorn that you had to put oil and the popcorn in and wait for what seemed like forever for it to begin popping and before it was ready. But now we simply put a minute and thirty seconds on the microwave and instant popcorn is hot and ready to be devoured. And unfortunately, some of our prayer lives resemble the same mentality, meaning we throw up instant popcorn prayers which are mostly a laundry list for what we want God to do and in what timing we need it done. But when is the last time that we just sat and listened to what the Almighty had to say? Of course this would require that we turn off the radio, our cell phones, the laptop, and the television so that we can have a time with God that is uninterrupted and focused specifically on Him.
But more important than just the fact that we are busy I think leads to this popcorn mentality of prayer. I think that we have lost the true understanding of what forgiveness is. Read this definition that Oswald Chambers gives us of forgiveness:
Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.
We also forget why God hates sin, we assume that it is because it separates us from Him, or because it makes us unholy but those are only aspects of that hate. And I know that you know that everything in history and everything in the Bible is about Jesus (especially if you are part of the Berean Church because I tell you that constantly) so why would sin be any different. If you remember it is that very nature and act (The sin nature & sins that we commit) that sent His one and only Son to the Cross to die. He had to bear the punishment for all of that sin so that we could be restored into a right relationship with the Father.
So, based upon that understanding and if you take a second and really think about the miracle that forgiveness is don’t you think the Majestic God that we serve deserves more than a minute and thirty seconds?
God Bless ~ Pastor Tyler