Facing Ignorance

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(Acts 17:30,31) The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man He has appointed, and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead."

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Ignorance is a beloved excuse, and God removed it. The people listening to Paul could no longer honestly deny having heard that God holds them responsible for their decisions--even after escaping to the grave. In other words, because of the resurrection demonstration, death is not the final escape from responsibility or judgment. On a fixed day, all humanity will be called back to account for themselves.

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I've found that "what if" thinking (typically the first step out of ignorance) leads to either fear or hope, depending on whether I'm trusting the faithfulness of God's Word. Then my "What if" thinking leads to "What is" thinking, and this marks--hopefully--my renewed commitment to honest, realistic investigations of truth. And honest truth-seeking (I believe) always leads to Jesus Christ. This revelation always leads to repentance from dead works and repentance into the joy of serving the living God (Hebrews 9:14).

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Lord, I want my preoccupation throughout life to be Your love. I want to respond to You with alacrity and I want to be directed continually by Your grace (and not by my old habits of trying to flee from You or to change You). Like You, may I be patient during tested with hardships, merciful when tested with power, and responsible when tested with temptation.