Skip to main content

Yuck

           Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (I Peter 1:3-5)

About a quarter of a century ago, I bought paint for my kitchen: metallic gold, silver, and bronze. My goal was to color-wash the walls I got the south wall done before my typical “Yuck” reaction kicked in. I say “yuck” to 99% of my creative projects at some point along the way and the only reason the other 1% doesn’t get that reaction is that I’m done before it kicks in. I’m familiar with the yuck phase, so I cleaned up and walked away, giving myself the time to (I hoped) bring the clarity of objectivity to the situation. When I returned to it a couple hours later, it was with the question “Is it ‘yucky’ or do I really hate it?” The answer was that I really hated it. I found new paint and instead of a color-wash, I put a darker border at the top with scrollwork stenciled in white. I like the border well enough that when I painted the walls again, I left it.

Was I justified in painting over the color-wash that had not turned out as I wanted it to? I paid for all the paint. I provided all the labor. I can’t imagine anyone complaining. In a similar way, God would have been entirely justified in scrapping the whole universe when Adam and Eve sinned. He would be justified in scrapping any person who failed to measure up to His standard of excellence. We might think we have the right to over-rule Him because we’re a bit of the creation involved, but He still has the right.

What does He do, instead? He plans with the yuck factor in mind. He provides a solution to the problem. He shows mercy. He adds grace. He looks at the wall that is our lives and sends Jesus to shed His blood, that we can be washed in it, and His stencil at the top of the wall is “His banner over me is love.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more