No excuses!

I haven't blogged in a few days--I guess since all the excitement of the two newest Sims girls arriving home from China with Mike and Meritt. It's been glorious to be with them; I've never experienced anything like the feeling I get when they run up the driveway to jump into my arms when I arrive at their house or when they want to show me their pink fingernails that Mom painted or even watching them learn to love Mabel, the dog (who they were really scared of at first). I feel blessed to get to know them!!

I ran into something in Jeremiah last week that I didn't quite know how to handle--that also may have been a hold-up on my blogging (haha not that I'm expecting that there are people daily clamoring for another post!). People are trying to harm Jeremiah because of what he is saying to them when he has given up everything to proclaim God's words to Israel, to call them to repent. He calls out to God and asks if he cares and if he will defend him, and God essentially says that he will save anyone who repents--and points out Jeremiah's sin of not trusting God in that moment. My thought was "Of course he trusts God! He's given up everything to follow God's calling--if anyone is standing on what they believe, it's Jeremiah." 

I revisited it this morning and realized that the application for me is that there isn't any excuse for my sin. God doesn't excuse people's sins because it's "understandable"--it is apparently sin to waver in trusting God even in the most seemingly undeserving suffering. That also means for me that if another person wrongs me, I am still fully responsible for my reaction--no matter how unreasonable the other person is. In my sin, he calls me to repent; to confess, look to Christ as the one who has paid the penalty, and resolve to change. And I know that life/heart change like that is only possible through the Holy Spirit's softening and transforming of my heart. God is good! And even though he is so righteous--sinless--there is forgiveness for me because Christ was so righteous!