Enough

I remember hearing about “the straw that broke the camels back” when I was just a kid. The idea being that at some point you’ve reached and/or surpassed the load limit of straw that a camel can carry. This is obviously a idiom phrase that means, “you can only take so much”. I think everyone has load limits on what they can handle. I can only take so much pressure and stress on my schedule before I start to “unravel”. I came across a passage this morning that stunned me a bit – the Lord had reached His limit with His people of Judah. Check this out…

3 Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, 4 including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive. (2 Kings 24:3-4 NIV)

When I look back over the history of God’s people – I think His patience was really very long. The king that was taken into captive also did evil in the Lord’s eyes. This king was the great-great grandson of Manassah who pushed the limit of the Lord regarding evil.

As I read this passage, I found myself thanking the Lord for His patience with me. Not one else on the planet knows me like He does. I also found myself thanking Him for sending Jesus. I don’t deserve the grace that Jesus brought, but I’m so very thankful for it. I am embarrassed by my continued sin. I am always pretty quick to repent of my sin. I’m so thankful that because of Jesus, the Lord is quick to forgive and forget my sin.

I must also be quick to forgive others who sin against me. When someone harms me or hurts me – the quicker I forgive them is directly related to the length of time of my heart healing from the hurt. I don’t want the Lord to reach His limit with me. I want to listen to Him and walk in obedience with Him. I want to run from sin and live in the shadow of the cross.

Pressing On!

Dwayne