Earning Acceptance

How many of us try to earn our acceptance into God’s kingdom? How many of us are afraid that if we don’t do certain things, God will not bring us into His presence when our lives on earth are finished. Do we think we must adhere to a bunch of rules? Do we make ourselves miserable just trying to be good enough for God?

"He has told you, O man, what is good; & what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, & to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8


God didn’t ask us to sacrifice our first born, offer burnt offerings or bring barrels of olive oil to Him.

Will all of these things the Lord requires get us to Heaven? No, only the blood of His son, Jesus, will do that. However, because we are His and have repented of our sins; asked forgiveness and accepted Him into our hearts, God wants us to show our changed life by doing those things.

Are we guilty of trying to do good works in order to please God? Do we think our good works will bring showers of material things down upon our heads? No, God is going to bless us because we are His people.

"God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” Matthew 6:30-33 The Message