Snatching from God’s hand

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Snatching from God’s hand

By Jon Walker

“… We have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the Word of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV)

With a quick glance, it’s easy to assume Paul is referring to the sinful behavior that occurs before we become Christians. That is, we announce our dependence upon Jesus and we renounce the sinful methods we once used to make it through a Jesus-less day.

But, Paul, our prefect in the school of Christ, is actually referring to the sinful behavior of a group of Christians who slander him even as they manipulate young believers.

Instead of slinging mud, Paul ignores their specific attacks and directs us heavenward. In effect, he says, once we used these same methods to get our own way, but now that we have Jesus within, we depend upon him to carry us through the day.

We no longer act like children – Often, you’ll see one child snatch something out of another child’s hands. We do this with God, snatching situations out of his hands, thinking we can do it better or faster. We stop acting like children when we no longer depend on secrecy, deception, or self-righteousness to get our own way.

We trust God can – Paul, ever the exhorter, pushes us toward the ideal, but his standards are never imperative, “ought to” statements demanding perfection from us. He, perhaps more than any other student in the school of Christ, understands our desperate need for God’s grace. We can’t; God can. We trust that God can.

If you’d like to receive these devotionals regularly, you can sign-up at www.gracecreates.com/subscribe/. Jon Walker writes from www.gracecreates.com. He is a Zondervan author, and the former writer/editor of the Purpose Driven Life On-Line Devotionals. This devotional is copyrighted 2008 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.