Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God, who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. Blessed are they whose offenses have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sins the Lord will never count against him. (Romans 4:4-8)
We work hard for our paychecks. A paycheck is definitely not a gift. A gift is something that is not earned. God doesn’t want us to be tired and miserable; He wants to be our refuge and the main source of our joy. He doesn’t allow us to earn his gifts of salvation, His power, and righteousness. Jesus tells us that if we have faith as small as a mustard seed that nothing will be impossible for us. (See Matthew 17:20.) He also implies in Luke 17:6 that if we have that same small amount of faith that we can be leaders and that people will listen to us and walk with us as we follow Jesus. Faith as small as a mustard seed must be the kind of faith that Abraham had when he was afraid of two different kings killing him. He got nervous and told those kings that Sarah was his sister, so they slept with her. Like Abraham, sometimes we only have mustard seed faith. Yet, God still justifies us when we do wicked things, just as he justified Abraham. We are definitely blessed that God has forgiven our offenses, has covered our sins, and that God will never count our sins against us. God sees us as being righteous. God’s gifts are given in love and we must reach out in faith and accept them.
Dear Jody,
Sometimes I feel as though I do have faith as tiny as a mustard seed. Sometimes I forget to include God when I need him the most. Sometimes I try and carry the burden all by myself instead of praying and asking for help. What is the point of being like that when I know God is with me every step of the way? I need to be more faithful.
Dear Pam, don’t feel alone! Try to remember when you feel the warning signs of anxiousness, depression, anger — any feelings that don’t include love — to pray! 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray continually. My first reaction to that verse is that if we prayed continually we wouldn’t ever get anything done, so surely God does not mean that. But He does want us to pray continually! He wants us to pray for all the people we encounter and for guidance and success in all the activities we do. When you change an activity during the day — say you start doing laundry. He wants you to pray for the guidance and success of the activity, anyone you encounter during the activity, and to be thankful that you can participate in the activity. If you drive to the laundromat, pray that you get there safely. Pray for all the people in the laundromat, be thankful for the clothes you are washing, pray that your clothes do not get ruined there. We can say breath prayers throughout the day, short and thankful. That can get us in practice for praying for bigger things like when we are carrying a burden. But we all forget and sometimes have only the faith of a mustard seed. God knows that we are forgetful and sometimes have little faith, that’s why He tells us that even if we have only the faith of a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for us because we have His power through the Holy Spirit living within us! Thanks be to God! He is amazing!
Yes, thanks be to God for his patience, love and wisdom for his children!
For sure! Praise be to God!