I heard of a guy who was about double the body weight that he should be, and he decided he was going to lose weight. He told his doctor, and the doctor said, “Okay. Let’s just start with something easy. I want you to quit eating before you go to bed. Wait till the next morning. You’ll lose 25 pounds before we meet again.” The man agreed to do this, and he went home and set his alarm clock for 12:01 AM. When the alarm went off, he got up and ate some Bluebell ice cream.
Good people who really love God make bad decisions from time to time. Like this man, we don’t experience God’s reward because make the choice to only believe part of what we’re told. We sometimes take the rest into our own hands, which often leads to the hard way.
That reminds me of how Abraham and Sarah interpreted God’s promise. They believed God would give them a child, but things were just taking too long! So, they tried to help God out by using Hagar, their maidservant, as a surrogate. Bad choice! Hagar conceived, but she didn’t give birth to the promised child. She gave birth to Ishmael, which represented human effort. In the end, it was Sarah herself that birthed Isaac by divine empowerment, and God’s promise was fulfilled.
See, if we want God to bless our lives, we have to live by faith. The best way to do that is to put things in God’s hands and leave them there.
In Galatians, Paul says that Sarah and Hagar represent two covenants: the Old Covenant, which bears children who are slaves, and the New Covenant, which bears children of the promise who are free. He said that if we’re going to obey God’s law, it’s going to make us slaves because we have fallen flesh that wants the wrong things. We’re going to keep disobeying the laws that bring blessing. In other words, we’re going to eat the Bluebell ice cream at 12:01 AM.
When you’re faced with the choice, remember Abraham. Almost 20 years of his life were defined by one bad choice. God wants our lives defined by His blessing. Our choice determines which we experience: the regret of our effort or the reward of God’s empowerment.
I love this from Dallas Wilard, one of the greatest Bible teachers. He said, “Grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning.” We should love God’s law because it is a part of His covenant. When Jesus came, He fulfilled the Law; He didn’t abolish it. He wanted us to see that it was important, but His ultimate blessing comes through relationship. It comes when we overcome the hurdles that keep us from knowing He loves us more than we could ever love ourselves. Only God can lead us into the rich rewards of life.
