Reluctant Retiree

A new monarch took the royal throne in the United Kingdom this week. King Charles ascended to the throne after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth. I have never known what it must be like to be born into a royal family and live more than 70 years before becoming king over a family of nations.

But my God has made me royalty in His kingdom. It is a lofty position that I neither sought nor deserve. God bestowed it on me by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. He has transformed me from a beggar to royalty and from a prisoner to one who is set free. The good news is that this transformation is true of everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ for salvation and redemption.

Revelation 1:5-6 says, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Not only do we become royalty in God’s kingdom, but we remain so forever. Our royal titles and benefits will never be taken away.

From time to time we hear of some government official granting pardon to a convicted criminal. The criminal has been tried and convicted of crimes under the laws of the land. But the government official has decided that he should not be punished further for the crimes. In most cases his offense is cleared from public records, as if the crime had never been committed.

We have all committed offenses against God. We may not think that these crimes are worthy of punishment and that God should not hold them against us, but God has a different view of our sins against Him. He is holy and perfectly righteous. He cannot bear sin, which is actually rebellion against Him. In His perfect justice, these crimes against Him must be punished. But God is also rich in mercy. So He has made a way for us to receive pardon for our sins. He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross, bearing God’s wrath against our sin. His blood gives us forgiveness for our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. It is the greatest gift of mercy ever seen.

But we are required to do one thing. We must humble ourselves before God, acknowledging our sinfulness and believing in His mercy through Jesus Christ. Basically, we are thus required to receive the gift that God so freely offers to us. Receive the pardon that God offers you. Be free today. You will no longer carry around the burden of guilt for the crimes that you have committed against God. God’s permanent record of your offenses will be wiped clean. And you will know the joy of His presence.

Exodus 34:9 says, “And he said, ‘If I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.'” Don’t be stiff-necked any longer. Acknowledge your sin and need for the Savior, Jesus Christ. And receive God’s pardon and presence forever.

Most training that we do is focused inwardly. We study and discipline our minds to get good jobs or become better equipped in our chosen field. We workout to stay healthy and look fit. We research and practice things that we are interested in to become more accomplished in things we care about. While some of our intentions within training may be directed toward benefitting others, most of our intentions are driven by self-interests.

The apostle Paul recognized the benefits of physical and mental training. But he also identified a higher training goal. In I Timothy he wrote, “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” We must not neglect our spirits and souls when it comes to our training regimen. Training for godliness equips us to serve God and other people. Godliness develops our outward focus in order to identify needs and demonstrate compassion. Godliness empowers a true knowledge of God and desire to worship Him. Godliness focuses our attention and efforts on the things that really matter now and will continue to be important into eternity.

Beginning today train yourself in godliness. A word of warning: you can’t do this yourself. We must first humble ourselves before God and invite His Spirit to empower us and encourage us in the pursuit of godliness.

Hosea 14:4 says, “I will love them freely.” When was the last time that you received something that was truly free. I would wager that you have rarely, if ever, received a truly free gift. Almost everything is given to us and by us with some hidden expectation of return. Businesses give something free to clients and prospects with the expectation of future compensation. Friends and family give gifts with the expectation of feeling good, return gifting, or increased closeness in the relationship. We even do favors or good deeds for people with the same expectations of return.

All of this makes God’s promise of freely given love to us all the more remarkable. It means that no prayers, no tears, no good works, and no sacrifices will make God love us more. But it also means that nothing we will ever do will make Him love us less. He loves us simply because He chooses to love us. He doesn’t wait to love us until we somehow become loveable, because we can never achieve such a standing. He doesn’t wait to love us until we do certain religious or moral works, because we cannot become good enough to deserve His love. God loves you and me freely. He is not expecting anything from us, before He loves us. He chose to love us before the creation of the world. He simply loves us because He chooses to love us.

How will we respond to this type of love? Will we choose to ignore it and continue to live as though He doesn’t love us? Or will we respond with thanksgiving and praise, choosing to follow Him as our loving Savior and Redeemer?

We are spending a few days in Fort Lauderdale. Since I grew up near the beach in Southern California, I have always enjoyed being near the water. The vastness of the ocean reminds me of my unlimited God. The sounds of the waves give me a certain peace that I don’t find in other locations, although I love the beauty of nature everywhere. The beach can also be dangerous. When the waves are high and rough, tossed around by the wind, you can be pulled in directions you do not want to go.

Doubt causes us to be tossed about and taken in directions we don’t want to go. We may hear God lead us in one direction, but because we doubt His love, we go a different path. Then we find that God’s way was better and we are suffering in the place we find ourselves. Or we may ask God for something that is good, but we doubt His ability to give us this good thing. So we fail to draw upon His wisdom.

We are commanded to ask God for wisdom. But then we are given this warning in James 1:6, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” Faith and doubt cannot coexist at the same time. Speak to God in faith. He is always good. He will do the good thing that you request because He is also always able.