Am sitting down with my two of my best friends as we watch my son Moe train for swimming, and we are just having conversations while relaxing with two of us drinking tea and the other drinking soda. My youngest son comes from playing to eat his sausage which I had wrapped for him in a cling film and one of my friends jokes to him and tells him to eat the sausage without opening the wrap and voila he just puts it his mouth without thinking and am like, ‘what on earth are you doing, you’re not supposed to eat the wrap and you know it, why are you doing it?’ But he looks at me sheepishly laughing thinking he’s done a pretty good job.
It was a cold evening, and my youngest son hadn’t been feeling well, so I didn’t allow him to take soda, sausage was the healthiest option available. As my friend was taking soda, he kept asking if he could have a sip, to which I kept refusing because I knew the sugar would trigger a sore throat and so he kept playing, going back & forth and every time he would ask if he would have a sip! It’s like he never got tired of pushing my limits. Finally, when the soda was almost over, he asks me if he could just have a final sip of the last soda and I caved in and then it hits me! This is life as we know it. We all know the 4-1-1’s of life, what is right, what is wrong, but to some extend we like to test God to see if He will cave into our demands.
We push the limits and keep asking Him the same question that He told us no the first time, thinking that He will change His answer and subscribe to our demands. We forget that God’s personality is true from everlasting to everlasting, He doesn’t change His mind or shift like a shadow as we see in James 1:17-18, “whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the Heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us His true Word. And we, out of all creating, became His prized possession.” In other words, God doesn’t give us sips of His blessings, no! He gives us His full blessings and we are His most prized possession.
Yes, God has never given anyone half a blessing, or like my son, the last sip of the soda in the bottle – He gives us full blessings that He has designed and purposed for each of us from the beginning of time. There will be days you want to rush God into giving you blessings, yet He wants you to grow in character so that when you do receive your blessing you will take care of them and not treat them with contempt. The story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32 is one that we are all too familiar with. “There was a man who had two sons.The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. It’s good to note that the father, did not give this particular son half of his share when he asked for it – he gave him full share of his inheritance.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. He forgot to live responsibly and be of good character. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. Can you imagine living like a prince then having to take care of pigs? All because of not being responsible? 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. He was all alone and lonely.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. Like the prodigal son, there comes a time that we need to wake up from our slumber, realize our mistakes, correct them and this means asking for forgiveness instead of thinking that we are above anyone else.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Our Heavenly Father is eagerly waiting for you and He longs for you to come back home and when you do, not only does He forgive all your sins, but He writes your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life, not only that, there’s great rejoicing in Heaven because you have come back home, and one day when He returns, He will take you with Him into Heaven and there you will live with Him, forever and ever. If that doesn’t excite you, I honestly don’t know what will.
The Bible is full of stories of people who messed up, gave God excuses of how unfit they were to be used by Him, some of them were even promised by God, but somewhere along the way, they took matters into their own hands. Through these men and women, we learn that God is full of grace and mercy, and He can still use anyone despite their past mistakes.
Abraham had to wait 25 years for Isaac to be born, and in the waiting, he slept with his servant girl, and they had Ishmael, yet Isaac was the son of the promise. Rebekah was told by God in Genesis 25:23, that “the sons in your womb will become two nations. From the beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.” Yet when it was time for Isaac to pronounce his blessings, she came up with a strategy of how Jacob got it instead of Esau. God doesn’t need any help from any of us, what He says, He will deliver.
David waited 15 years before he became king. David slept with another man’s wife, killed the husband and tried to cover for it. Yet still the Bible records it that David was a man after God’s own heart. Moses when he was called by God, tried to give excuses of how unfit he was to lead the nation of Israel. Moses murdered a man and run away, and when he was 80 years, the Lord called him into his purpose and destiny showing us it’s never too late to serve God. Aaron, who was the brother of Moses had seen God move and perform incredible miracles, yet when Moses stayed on the mountain for long, he agreed to make an idol for the people. Aaron went on to become the first High priest of the nation of Israel.
Cain committed the first murder in the Bible. He got jealous of his brother Abel because his gift was accepted and his wasn’t. Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him, he committed ‘pre-meditated murder,’ and even after he was asked what he had done by the Lord, he still acted like he didn’t know what God was talking about.
What am I saying? Our actions will always have consequences, whether good or bad, that is why we need to be careful with what we say or do, remembering that ignorance is not a defense! Since time memorial, God’s plans for mankind have always been great. He desires to have a relationship with us if we let Him in. He gives us many of His promises in the Bible, but sometimes we get tired of waiting and instead of learning from the great patriarchs and the mistakes that they did, we embark on our own. Still God remains faithful, and He brings us back to Himself because that’s just who He is. Proverbs 10:22 (NKJV) reminds us “the blessing of the Lord, makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.”
Don’t let the enemy lie to you, confuse you and make you miss out on God’s blessings over your life. Don’t downplay the warnings that you receive from God, instead, listen and walk this life bringing Glory and Honour unto His Name.
God bless you!!
Cynthia Gitonga Blog 