BBD 09.09.08 Blaming God
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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09.09.08
Blaming God
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted
when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has
conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings
forth death. - James 1:13-15.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not
condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has
not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. - John 3:17-18.
Have you ever been sued? I was once sued while I was a parole officer by a
house arrest client. He sued claiming false arrest and was asking for
$40,000 in damages. He had been sent back to prison for a violation of the
rules and conditions of his release. How did he violate them? He assaulted
his girlfriend giving her a severe beating. He could have been charged with
an additional law violation for the assault, however, since he was being
returned to prison for a lengthy period the assistant district attorney
decided not to pursue those charges. He should have been happy that he would
not have several additional years of prison time tacked onto his time to
serve, but instead he blamed me for his problems. The state attorney general's
office handled the lawsuit, and it was eventually dismissed. However, it did
hang over my head for many months with the thought that with the right jury
I could be paying $40,000 to this guy.
I have lost track of the number of times that I have heard someone blaming
God for something. Many of those times it was someone cursing God for one
thing or another and whenever something bad would happen the curse words
would spew out of their mouths. Whose fault is it that someone drinks, gets
into their vehicle and drives while intoxicated resulting in an arrest or
worse an accident? Is it God's fault that this happened? Whose fault is it
that someone has an affair and their spouse finds out resulting in a messy
divorce? Is that God's fault? Whose fault is it that after a s_xual
encounter one of the individuals involved ends up with a STD? Is that God's
fault? On the Day of Judgment when the book is opened and your name is not
found whose fault is that? Is it God's fault that you have rejected Jesus
Christ as your personal Savior?
I like the way that The Message translates James 1:14-15, "The temptation to
give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the
leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a
baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer." We have no
one to blame but ourselves for the consequences of sin. When we reject
Christ as our Savior, we condemn ourselves, we send ourselves to hell for
eternity. As Paul says in Galatians 6, "... for whatever a man sows, that he
will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap
corruption.." It is a description of a spiritual law. Much like the law of
gravity enables you to know what will happen if you jump off of the Empire
State Building. The result is that you will be hurt and no one is to blame
for the consequences except yourself.
So if you have been blaming God for everything bad that happens in your life
perhaps it is time to reassess your position because God loves you so much
that He ".gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16)."
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