Proverbs 27:5

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Wandering Through the Bible

June 29

 

An open rebuke is better than hidden love!

After yesterday's devotion, I did something I hadn't done before. Via Facebook, I sent out a "contract" to my friends, asking them to sign it and return it to me. What was in the contract? A plea for assurance—my assurance—that they were indeed saved; that I would see them again.

It was scary. Would they think I was a freak? A zealot? On my religious bandwagon again? Or would they see it for what it was: an earnest desire to know that their souls are eternally secure and that they know the same Jesus I know.

The responses came fast at first and I thought, "Whew! Maybe this will be okay." Some I was not surprised at all to hear back from. Others I am still waiting to hear from—if they respond at all. This is a private thing, you know, confessing to the (Facebook) world that one is saved. I mean that. Not everyone likes their private business made aware to all and I understand that decision. I haven't looked this morning to see if any more have responded since yesterday. The grandsons stayed with me and the hubby so this is my first chance for quiet this morning.

Anyway, one response dumbfounded me. Well, actually two but I only want to discuss the one right now. A friend told me how she had been raised in the church, lived a good life all of her life thus far, but that the past year had brought about many changes and she just didn't know how to answer my question. It took me back in time to when I had the opportunity to briefly mentor a fellow churchgoer who questioned her salvation as well. When one grows up good, rarely does anything bad, and is at church about every time the doors are open, I can see how being saved is either a "given" or that is it "the right thing to do" and even how it may really occur but just not have such an impact to be earth-shattering because when one hasn't messed up, there's not much to be forgiven, and salvation, accepting Jesus as Lord, is just the right thing to do. Think to the prodigal son's story—well, actually to his brother's story. The brother did "everything right." Think to the workers who agreed to work for a penny's wage all day and then got mad when the workers who joined the workforce at the end of the day received the same amount of pay. In both of these stories, justification for getting one's part, one's due benevolence was questioned since the reward for all was the same.

I'm not sure if I am being clear or just rambling. Here's my point. Being saved for some is not the life-changing experience that it is for others. When you live a good life and have done so for as long as you can remember, that doesn't mean you are any less saved or more saved than the one who experiences salvation later in life. The New American Standard Bible (©1995) states: "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little."

Does this mean those who barely messed up aren't as likely to show love? In a way. For you see, it's hard to show a compassion for sinners if one hasn't done much sinning on her own. However, when one has really messed up and been forgiven, it allows an empathy with other souls to extend grace and pardon and mercy, versus showing condemnation or looking down one's nose at that soul who hasn't reached blameless perfection.

Ugh. I'm still not going where I want to with the verse for today: An open rebuke is better than hidden love! I started off talking about the survey, wishing to gain peace for myself about those who haven't claimed to be God's children. The survey was a result of the story I read on Facebook about the brother and his brother's response about being doomed for hell. Maybe I was hoping that if they took my contract seriously, they would say they were only joking, that they were really okay, or maybe just hoping that if they weren't okay, it would initiate a time for me to witness to them. Instead, it brought forth a response from a gal I thought was okay. Is she? I'm not sure.

Rebuke is defined as: a verb (used with object)
1. to express sharp, stern disapproval of; reprove; reprimand.
noun
2. sharp, stern disapproval; reproof; reprimand.

I've had plenty of these in my lifetime! But the next part of the verse, the hidden love? I have had much of that too. So much so that it was never expressed to me and left me insecure and lonely for most of my life. I've said it to many gal pals before: I like being told what to do. I like knowing what is expected of me. Sure, it'd be nice if it was done in a soft manner instead of harshly.

To sum it all up, I guess what I am trying to say boils down to the fact that if someone suspected I was not saved but hoped in his/her heart that I was, but didn't ever take the time to find out, didn't take the risk of telling me my life was not showing evidence that I was a "Christian," then I would want that supposed loved one to love me enough to tell me, to rebuke me of my actions, and then to lovingly lead me on the path where I should be walking on. Does that make sense? Sigh. I hope so!

Thanks for bearing with me through this wandering mind of mine. By the way, I will post my contract on this blog page and hope that you will consider signing your name to it as well. At this stage of the game, I need all the assurances I can get! I don't want my love to be hidden. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

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