Do you let your independence sometimes get in the way of doing the right thing?
Do you feel that you need to make your life right BEFORE you come to Jesus?
These are the questions that came to my mind (after a while, not right away…days later…you’ll see) after an incident occurred with my daughter, while home from college.
Let’s back it up about three months…Holly was heading back to school, after summer break. She “thought” she was going with the flow with traffic, but the police officer disagreed. She paid her ticket, completed the driving school class, and began driving with caution…up until…Christmas break.
Holly was on her way home from a friend’s house. The road she was traveling is a speed trap. The speed limit is 30 mph, and I agree it is difficult to obey that speed, but the limit is the limit. When she arrived home, I was about to leave. When I looked out the window I noticed her sitting in her car, on the phone, bawling her eyes out. I thought, “Oh no, her and her boyfriend broke up.” Before I even approached her car, I contacted my mom to see if she could get Cole from school and take him to golf, because I may need to be here with Holly. When I walked over to her car window, she rolled it down and informed me she received another speeding ticket, and that she passionately and confidently just knew that the speed limit was 40 mph.
Once I knew this situation could be delayed, I called my mom back to let her know “thanks, but no thanks, I’m on my way.”
While driving, I called to inform my husband of the incident. It’s Holly’s problem to tell him, but I wanted to ease the shock.
The next day, Tim told me that Holly hadn’t mentioned anything to him yet.
I became the middle man and reminded Holly to tell her dad.
Day two…repeat.
Day three…repeat.
During this time, Holly was trying to sell her wakeboard and babysit to pay him back the EXPENSIIVE ticket at the same time of breaking the news to him.
During this time, Tim’s disappointment grew in our daughter’s decision to not confront him.
Holly and I had ANOTHER discussion on day four. She said, “I just wanted to get all the money together, so I could pay dad, and show him the ticket at the same time.”
Hence my thoughts:
Do you let your independence sometimes get in the way of doing the right thing?
Do you feel that you need to make your life right BEFORE you come to Jesus?
So many times, I’ve heard people say that they feel that they can’t give their life to Christ now because they have too much sin in their life. They want to “get it all together” before surrendering to the Lord.
Friend, Christ didn’t come to save the clean. Our Heavenly Daddy knows we are sinners. He knows our faults. He knows everything about us (even how many hairs are on our head, and when they are falling out!). Even before we were born, or before we began floundering in foolishness, He paid the price and desires for us to simply come to Him, just as we are.
Holly’s father was saddened, and disappointed, in her decision to do it on her own and not confront him.
We appreciate the fact that Holly wanted to be independent, but when your actions affect others (and they always do), we need to be considerate of others. If she would have simply surrendered the news to her daddy, yes…he would have been upset with her, but the feeling of disrespect and disappointment would not have began settling in his heart and mind.
However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. John 6:37
Did you see that???? He will NEVER REJECT YOU!
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10
Did you see that??? Jesus didn’t come to save the found, but the lost!
Jesus answered them, “It is the sick people who need a doctor, not those who are healthy. I have not come to ask good people to change. I have come to ask sinners to change the way they live.” Luke 5:31-32
The Great Physician is in. Come to Him.
It’s time to confront Christ and surrender to Him.
Click here to read “A Special Gift Just For You”
Click here to read “If you just obey, everything will be okay”
Blessings to you and yours,
Stephanie
PS…Holly did inform her dad, and she is still working on paying for her mistake. Life lessons.