Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Do you leap or seep?

I’m a leaper. (No, not a leper.) I leap into decisions before I consider all the angles. I do not seep in my thoughts, letting them brew before making an educated choice.

I like to think there are pros to being a leaper. Sometimes opportunities will pass us by if we wait too long to act. Sometimes we can talk ourselves out of our passions if we analysis the situation too much.

There is also a down side to leaping without looking. Naturally not thinking things through can result in mistakes being made and consequences to endure. It sometimes means you have to try many, many wrong things before you realize what the right thing is. Some get discouraged after too many failed attempts and vow to never try again, moving away from something that was once important to them.

And there are pros to being a seeper. You don’t make as many mistakes or risk any more than you’re willing. There is an assurance when you decide on something rather than relying on blind hope, which some find entirely too frightening and/or lazy. You endure far fewer consequences, as you make perfectly certain that you will not act unless it is to your advantage to do so.

The cons of being a seeper tend to revolve around missing opportunities and having to settle with what’s left over. But it can also lead to an inability to make any decisions assuming there is always more to research before committing to a certain act or way of thinking. This waiting around for assurance is what I imagine a lot of people are doing when it comes to taking that necessary leap of faith to believe in God.

I don’t believe God can be proven. I really don’t. But it is absolutely evident that something incredible has happened to me since I put my faith in God and pursued a life that pleases Him. I have faith that it is God who has made it possible for me to get my life right. Having seen such a dramatic difference in my own life, it would be unthinkable for me to not believe that something or someone is helping me.

God doesn't want anyone to die without salvation. That's never been His desire. But there is going to be a day when He rewards His followers for the faith they have had. Salvation has nothing to do with being a good person. Not one of us is a completely and consistantly good person. All of us have screwed up in some way, so we all have a need for someone to intercede for us. That someone is Jesus. I know that if I sent my child to endure what He did, I'm going to make absolutely certain that he will be glorified for it, and that is wasn't for nothing. If we could gain salvation from being good, what in the world did Jesus die for?

I imagine it is a little more difficult for seepers to believe in God because He has purposefully left out a few critical evidences about Himself. He has made it entirely necessary to have faith in Him before you can develop a relationship with Him. This isn’t an issue of whether He wants to have a relationship with you or if He will show up if you ask Him to. He’s always there. He’s patiently waiting on us to acknowledge Him. But He's not sitting back doing nothing either. He's intimately involved in the details of this earth. His fingerprints are everywhere, and I see that now that I know what to look for. He's also asked those of us who believe in Him to help others know Him, but we're not all that good at it. But just because we don't do Him justice, doesn't mean He isn't there!

I pray today that you leapers out there leap into the grace that He longs to freely give you. And I pray that the seepers among us realize the importance of knowing Him before the opportunity to accept His gift of salvation passes by.

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