Daily Devotional: Live in the Moment (Day 28)

Reading: Ecclesiastes 7:15-18

The story is an all too common one. A young person is raised in the church and taught all the “correct” behaviors. If you didn’t behave correctly, you got pinched, told off, or the worst, the evil eye from the person two pews ahead of you. “Church” and Christianity was about behaving correctly to the point where there was no room for grace. The same young person, when they get a chance, go to the other extreme where the theme song is “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC, and they enjoy all the stuff they aren’t supposed to. At family reunions, someone rings the bell to start the fight. Each thinks they are alive but both are dead. Both need the transforming grace of God. Jesus was in neither camp. He was identified as righteous (not self-righteous) “Rabbi” but also identified with the “sinner.”

“It’s best to stay in touch with both sides of an issue. A person who fears God deals responsibly with all of reality, not just a piece of it.” Ecclesiastes 7:18 from the Message