Unbalanced Scales

I could never work behind a deli counter. Too much uncertainty.

Too much uncertainty?

Sure. Four slices of muenster cheese make a quarter pound but it takes five slices of lemon-pepper chicken to equal the same. Virginia baked ham? You can never get it to equal exactly a quarter pound. Factor in the fact that several people are sharing the same equipment. What if one of them should change the thickness of the slice? No, too many chances to get it wrong for people who expect you to get it right. Precisely right. Every time.

The people, their expectations, are the biggest uncertainty. How can you tell if that kind faced older woman or that distracted young man are going to suddenly erupt because you didn't give them the exact amount they requested? You can tell by the way any extra is hastily removed that the usual reaction is not good. No one is being robbed here or asked to pay for something they don't need. Guess that's why it is unusual to see the same deli workers for very many weeks in a row, even if you shop on the same day of the week.

Too much uncertainty.

Yet, that is the state of the souls of most who follow the majority of the world's religions. They never know, for sure, if what they are doing is enough. Until it's too late to change the outcome, anyway.

That's a terrible way to spend a lifetime, to choose an eternity.

Which is why God the Father sent God the Son to earth. To be the Son of Man so he could be seen with human eyes showing the heart and mind of the Father for mankind. Not so we would quit trying, but so we could quit striving. So we could rest in what He accomplished for us because He knows, has always known, that we could never do it on our own. No matter how many times we got it right, there would be times when we got it wrong.

 Christmas evening, while explaining why Jesus had to come, I asked our grandchildren how many days they would have to get it right to make up for a really bad day where they did something terribly wrong.

"Forever." they answered.

They understand the problem. They also understand the solution to the problem. This is good news that is welcomed news. But it is not new news. God has been telling the same story throughout the Old Testament, preparing our understanding to recognize the solution when it was provided.

The prophet Isaiah reminded the people of his day and the people of all days that, "All our righteousness is as filthy rags;" Yes, we can agree that compared to an eternally holy God our sin is pretty rotten stuff. But wait a minute. It says our RIGHTEOUSNESS - the good days, the unselfish acts, the kind words, the generous gifts - those are as filthy (beyond dirty) rags. We are without hope if it depends on us.

Except for The Plan, set in place before that first great Fall from all the perfect good God wanted for us. God's Son would be The Price to pay the debt of our trespasses.

Because of Jesus we can be forgiven, set free to choose differently, live a life in line with what God had wanted for us all along.

And we can be certain.