The Painting of Our Lives…
I’ve been thinking about a lot of things over the past couple of weeks. Not only have I been crushing on God, but I’ve been looking towards the future as well. I guess it all started on my spiritual birthday (July 4th for those of you who don’t know). I’m in awe of everything God’s done in the past 7 years. If I can sum it up in 3 sentences, it would be this… God gave me a blank canvas. My life is the painting. Grace covers the imperfections.
The blank canvas means a fresh start. All of us who are born again know the feeling… the feeling of a fresh start. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to go back in time and do things over again. I didn’t have to wonder any longer because that’s the exact sentiment I got when I got saved. All of my mistakes were corrected, all of my shame disappeared, and all of my worries dissipated. God gave me a blank canvas and it’s my job to paint my life’s story.
The problem is that many Christians stay on the blank canvas. I’ve repeatedly posted many blogs about this. When Christians mull around saying things like I only want to do what God wants me to do. It’s like asking someone to tell you what to paint and how to paint it. It’s completely asinine. We were created to create, just like our Father (one of His first “commandments” was to multiply and subdue the earth). We can’t help but be like our Father and He created EVERYTHING. Your life is yours. He just makes it supernatural. If I can compare it to anything, your life is like your dream car… He mods it out and supercharges it. I’m figuring out more and more what a relationship with God looks like and in the relationship, He isn’t telling me what to do and how to do it. He’s giving me the keys to the car and joyriding with me.
Last but not least, grace covers the imperfections. Let’s face it, nobody’s perfect (except God). But I figured out that shame and guilt was getting me no where, especially when God looked at me the way He does. When I did something wrong or made a mistake, I didn’t see a furious God waiting to punish me. I saw love and forgiveness. You know what? I don’t think I could ever take that for granted. The thought of His love and forgiveness has driven me to be the best person that I can be. It makes me not desire to repeat the same mistakes, but to continue on being a better person. A lot of people dwell in their guilt and shame… not knowing this love and forgiveness from God. But if He gave His Son to give you a blank canvas, don’t you think He’ll cover you for the long haul as well? In dwelling in the shame, we stop painting and when we stop painting, our lives won’t fill the canvas. It’s my whole-hearted belief that it’s our job to fill this canvas with the fullest lives we can fill it with. It’s the painting of our lives…
