This weekend I was watching a show called "Cupcake Wars" with my wife. On the show contestants present their best offering of cupcake based on required ingredients and a theme provided by the judges. It never ceases to amaze me how confident many of the contestants are going into the judging.
One contestant in particular was so confident she believed she had "nailed it" and was certain to be going into the next round. Yet once the judging began, the judges had little if anything good to say.
She was eliminated.
This got me thinking. How often do we rely on our own ideas of what God requires of those who belong to Him? We even hear some people assume that there are "many roads" which lead to heaven and Jesus is just one of them.
I know that judgment is not my job. I am nobody's judge, and I am glad. Nevertheless, I think folks should take seriously God's judgment and listen specifically to what God has said He requires. The Bible tells us we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, and it tells us that faith without works is dead. In addition, in the Jewish scriptures, in Micah 6:8, we read what is required, "To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God."
There are many references in the Bible (which is God's word given to us so that we will know exactly what is expected) which point to what God requires of us. I encourage each of us to read it for ourselves. Do not simply take someone else's word for it. Read it! It is God's gracious gift given to all of us that we might grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
So what do you think? Can you think of examples where people are overly optimistic and are stunned by a judge's judgment? Can you think of other scriptures that help us know what God requires of us?
Let us share these words of life with each other, as we journey together along the Way ...
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