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Banana Puddin’ Fellowship
“The pastor this morning said Paul had some type of ‘thorn in his flesh to keep him humble.’ He said ‘God’s grace is sufficient.’ Doesn’t that mean it could be some kind of sin?” Well, I guess it could but I don’t want my son, Grant, in his late teens, going out and sinning! So how do I respond? I went with, “He didn’t say what the thorn was, baby. We can’t be sinning to keep ourselves near God’s grace or to keep ourselves humble. The whole idea of being a believer is to be different from the world. We should be loving and gracious and righteous also.” That sounded like a good response. I was wiser than I realized.
Then my baby said, “If I had been to see heaven like Paul, it would take a bad sin to keep me from bragging and talking about it to everyone! Just a little bad eyesight or an achin’ back wouldn’t deter me from tellin’ the world! I’d need somethin’ I was ashamed of, deep shame.”
“Grant, you’re right. It could very well be a sin. It could be somethin’ that the apostle couldn’t stay away from. A sin is definitely something to bring God’s wrath on us. But the Lord in His righteous, loving way shows us grace. And there is nothing more humbling than realizing He loves us, as sinful and dark as we are. When we become Christians our desire is to please Him. When we don’t it’s so disturbing and so humbling. So you’re right, it could be a sin. It could also be a stutter when he talked. That could keep one humble. There are many illnesses that are very humbling.”
Fellowship is this kind of relating. It’s meaningful, deep communication about our love for God and our relationship with Him. Fellowship isn’t just “how ya doin’” over banana puddin’. But right about now banana puddin’ fellowship sounds a little tempting.
“What could he have seen in heaven, mom? Can you imagine?” Whew! That’s a little easier. I told him, “Streets of gold and gates of pearl are nice but I would bet he saw the Holiest Place, where the Lord dwells. Now that would definitely change your soul forever.” “Mom, I wanna go there like Paul. That’s a better adventure than climbin’ Mount Everest or goin’ to the moon...to see the room where God dwells…”
I love my Grant. He’s as sincere and pure hearted as a teen can be. He keeps me on my toes and he’s the heart of my heart. I hope the girl He’s preparin’ for him is ready for a run for her money!
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
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