Wait a couple of days and see what happens...

The wonderful, white, fluffy stuff has almost disappeared as quickly as it fell just a couple of days ago. Today was a cold, dreary day as the rain started to melt away the snow. By 4pm however, the sun made a comeback. I'm glad that we did get snow, even though I'm more grateful that I got a snow day as a result, because it wouldn't be a New England winter without it. It makes the ground and the trees into a majestic scene that can be short lived though very much appreciated.

Today I watched the movie, the Blind Side and it made me hopeful about God's grace and the ability He gives us in circumstances to "pay it forward". Many times, especially in the American culture, we typically do not assume the role of being the helper. We generally are not instinctive to help out others. Help out a complete stranger? When that happens, it gets news coverage. Why? Because it is a rare act that as humans, we are not generally prone to doing. 

Some egoists would say that we do this out of selfishness, that the belief that we shall be rewarded somehow is the reason in which we choose to act. Now I do not subscribe to this belief, how depressing a world would be live in if everyone did something based on selfishness? 

Yet here we are, many times you'll hear how our society as a whole has progressed technologically. And in that respect, yes we have; however, we also as a society have continued to play the apathetic card in too many circumstances. Hearing about civil wars and famine in third world countries, or after listening to the news about the Middle East someone makes a comment that we should just "pull our troops out and 'nuke' them".

It's unfathomable, in my mind, why God allows us to continue to live; why He wouldn't just see us in our selfish ways, rebelling against His perfect path for us. What makes Him not just wipe us out and start over? In Romans, it says that because of God's grace and righteousness which he imputes on us, through Jesus Christ, that we continue to live. (Read all of Romans, it's that good!) That we may suffer, succeed, and live until death greets us.

For many people, this life is the creme de la creme. They go on living for themselves, numero uno as it were. And the fact of the matter is that this life is temporary. That when you die, you will stand before God and be accounted for everything that you and I did in our lives, the good and the bad. Some will believe that the good things they did have outweighed the bad and therefore God (being the merciful Judge that he is) would be persuaded to not banish people to hell. Unfortunately for them, this is the wrong way to think. If there was a judge who believed that a serial killer should be let free because of the numerous good works that he did in his life before he decided to kill people, we would consider that judge to be ill-advised. But praise be to God that He gave us a way to be atoned through Christ Jesus! Jesus took on all of our impurities, our sins, our faults, upon Himself at the cross. As He drew his last breath, he replied, "It is finished." (John 19:30) What is finished? The divide between God and His people. The promise that He gave to Abraham continues on.