3/2/2020 Lenten Luminaries
[Jesus said to his disciples:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.“] (Mt. 25:31-32)
What is your image of God?
I think there are two extremes which we can commonly fall into when we think about God; either He is a tyrannical judge Who wants to try to catch us on technicalities, or He’s a pushover Barney the Dinosaur type. Like with anything the truth resides somewhere between the two extremes.
Jesus tells us through the Apostle James that God is love (1 Jn. 4:8). He also says throughout the Gospels that God is our Father. However today Jesus says that God is a judge, and yet a judge Who is a shepherd. God judges right from wrong and also cares deeply for us, His children and His sheep.
In addition to allowing Jesus the opportunity to eradicate our sinfulness during Lent, we ought to also allow Jesus the chance to remove any false images of God we might believe—Who He is and how He views us.
Spend some time today honestly asking yourself…
Who do I believe God is?
Who does He say I am?
Allow Jesus to replace false images you may have of God with the image of God He (Jesus) reveals and who you are because of it.