Taking Jesus for granted

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows (Galatians 6:7).

Your faith—or lack of it—has a profound effect on how you live your life. If you have faith in your spouse’s skills as a driver, you can sleep peacefully during a long road trip. If you don’t have confidence in the electric company, every night you’ll be winding up a mechanical alarm clock. If you trust the officials who are calling a game, you can relax and focus on the coach’s plan and each player’s performance. If you don’t trust your employees, you will frequently stay after work to do your own quality assurance.

Faith is part of our daily routine. Faith gives us confidence to make decisions and allows us to enjoy life; when we are lacking in faith, we become paralyzed by uncertainty and lose sleep due to worry. Faith affects both our decisions and behavior.

This is why faith in Jesus is so important to us. Jesus promises heaven to all who believe in Him. This gives us peace at funerals; when we know that our Christian loved one is nestled safely in Jesus’ arms, we find something to smile about even as we shed tears of farewell. And when the doctor reports that our own medical condition is extremely grave, we don’t react with fear because we know that the grave is only a revolving door that opens into paradise.

But sometimes we abuse faith. It’s one thing to be confident; it’s quite another to take something for granted. Some people feel so confident that the company will pay them correctly that they write checks on a depleted bank account, assuming that their paycheck will be deposited in time to cover those bad checks. Many husbands assume that their wives will always love them no matter how they behave. And people also take Jesus for granted. They know that He promises to forgive sin, so they hardly think twice about doing whatever they want, figuring that they can always get forgiveness afterwards.

Such people confuse confidence with risk-taking. It’s seldom worth it to take foolish chances; relationships are at risk when you take someone for granted. This is especially true of our relationship with the Lord; remember His warning: Don’t fool yourself—God cannot be mocked. A man harvests what he plants. Our Lord knows full well when your repentance is sincere, and when you’re only saying that you’re sorry to try and avoid getting into trouble. Don’t take God’s mercy for granted; the last Person you want to make angry is the One who decides where you go when you die.