Prodigal me...
Imagine you are rock climbing. To your left is a friend of yours, and her rope slips. She falls, and is paralized. Your rope is fine, but there is a chance it could slip. Someone offers you a ladder, to prevent you from falling and possibly being paralized. I am hoping you would take the ladder, and get down safely.
God gives us rules, commands, and directions. He gives us examples of people who have made bad decisions and shows us their consequences, and yet humans still make the same decisions and suffer through the same consequences. It's an endless, stupid cycle.
Why is it so hard to learn early off that if we obey God and follow his commands that we will be better off? Why do we rebel and think it's going to turn out okay? I'm trying to get my brain wrapped around this idea.
It reminds me of the quote from Sweet Home Alabama "why do you southern girls have to make all the wrong choices before making the right one"
Now comes the but....
I just got an email from our Youth Pastor about - maybe life isn't always about prevention, perhaps sometimes it is about being a safe place to come back to. God's grace and mercy always catches us and wraps its arms around us even when we make the same decisions over and over again. We make mistakes and they are lessons learned and they bring us closer to Christ when we repent and learn from our choices. Seeing the good out of the bad. My lesson to be learned for the day. He referenced the prodigal son, which is an amazing story in Matthew 15:11-32.
So. Rule #1 - try to prevent, and teach prevention, but...
Rule #2 - be a place to come back to with grace, mercy, and a big ol hug.
God gives us rules, commands, and directions. He gives us examples of people who have made bad decisions and shows us their consequences, and yet humans still make the same decisions and suffer through the same consequences. It's an endless, stupid cycle.
Why is it so hard to learn early off that if we obey God and follow his commands that we will be better off? Why do we rebel and think it's going to turn out okay? I'm trying to get my brain wrapped around this idea.
It reminds me of the quote from Sweet Home Alabama "why do you southern girls have to make all the wrong choices before making the right one"
Now comes the but....
I just got an email from our Youth Pastor about - maybe life isn't always about prevention, perhaps sometimes it is about being a safe place to come back to. God's grace and mercy always catches us and wraps its arms around us even when we make the same decisions over and over again. We make mistakes and they are lessons learned and they bring us closer to Christ when we repent and learn from our choices. Seeing the good out of the bad. My lesson to be learned for the day. He referenced the prodigal son, which is an amazing story in Matthew 15:11-32.
So. Rule #1 - try to prevent, and teach prevention, but...
Rule #2 - be a place to come back to with grace, mercy, and a big ol hug.
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