Our two year old Lab, Penny, is quite the character. She has a very distinct personality that is very different from any dog we have had before in our family. A goofball personality. At least, I call her a goofball, but she is a lovable goofball. She has begun an unusual behavior when she goes for her daily walks around our community. She picks up trash.
We are not really sure how she learned this behavior, but on each walk she will search for some discarded item that someone should have disposed of appropriately — and then bring it home for us to dispose.
There is no rhyme or reason behind what she will find and bring home either. Used water bottles, plastic store bags, candy wrappers, beer cans are popular (if anyone ever digs through our trash they will think we drink a lot of beer and have absolutely no brand loyalty) — the other day she proudly trotted up the driveway carrying an empty bag that had once contained 50 pounds of birdseed. Her tail was wagging vigorously in excitement even as she kept tripping over it — if a dog can grin… she was grinning. Penny is cleaning up Holiday Lakes one walk at a time.
You know it occurs to me, many people seem to view their lives the way Penny views Holiday Lakes — in need of a good cleaning up. While it is noble to seek to improve ourselves and right behavioral issues, oftentimes people seem to think that “cleaning up” their lives is the best way to get God’s attention and gain his approval.
Fortunately though, that is not how the Gospel of Jesus Christ works. God doesn’t expect us to clean up our lives so that we are worthy of Eternal Life, instead; eternal life is a gift given by God’s grace. The Apostle Paul explained it this way…
We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. Romans 3:22-24 NLT
Listen, all of us could be better people. But the Gospel found in Jesus Christ is not about being a better person. Instead, it is about understanding that self-righteousness will never appease God; so we seek the righteousness of Jesus and place our faith in him — not ourselves.
Certainly faith in Jesus ought to change our behavior — but the point we need to understand is that God desires for a heart-change to happen first in our lives. We seek God’s forgiveness for the wrongs we have done, and we place our faith in Jesus as the Sacrificial Savior who has provided for our redemption.
So, feel free to learn a lesson from Penny and pick up a little trash around your neighborhood — there sure is nothing wrong with making the world a little bit better place to live. But remember that salvation and redemption don’t come from being “good.” Instead, they come from the goodness of Christ.
Leave a Reply