I hope after reading this you’ll be inspired to put a tamborine in your shower like the picture I saw of a shower caddy holding a bottle of body wash, AND…wait for the unexpected twist…a tamborine! The caption read, “in case you start thinking about the goodness of God in the shower.”
Kidding aside, chances are if you’re not singing of His goodness, it could be that you don’t know why God is so good, it’s never been personal, maybe you don’t really know Him, or the pains in this life have distracted you so much that you’ve taken your eyes off the heart of the message that once impacted to you. Hebrews tells us He’s a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. I’d like to share what I have learned about Him that gives me so much reason to sing.
I would be amiss if I didn’t begin with who I am apart from Him. First, He tells me that I’ve missed the mark. Like an arrow being aimed and shot at a bullseye, I’ve fallen short of the mark, perfection, which is God’s standard. He’s a sinless, perfect God. Only that which is perfect and sinless can be in His presence. Because the arrow of my life missed the mark, I am unfit to be in His presence.
No amount of good can counter the fact that I’m marred. I’m stained. Because of sin I’m not in right standing with God. “Right” standing with God is a term called righteousness.
“There is none righteous, no, not one…” Romans 3:10
No one is righteous, or better explained, in right standing. To some degree, this is reassuring to know I’m not alone. It’s hard to admit you’ve wronged God by your own sin. But we all have.
Here is where I’ll begin with the most AMAZING characteristic of this God in Whom I sing. It’s the VERY REASON I sing!!
God became flesh.
This means the Creator God became one of us. Allow me to paint the story so you will understand why.
Sinless man is created in perfection.
God wanted two way love and a sincere relationship.
God created man to be able to choose Him.
In order for this choice to be valid, man would need to be able to choose something else if he wanted.
So God put a tree in his midst.
You may already know how the remainder of the story goes. God warned man that the consequences of eating the fruit on the tree would be death. Man eats of the fruit and becomes cursed, and all of humanity also is cursed with death (physical and spiritual) and cursed with a world that is no longer perfect. As a result, we will all one day die and stand before God in judgment as sinners if we don’t accept God’s way out. The stakes are pretty high to reject it.
“For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23
“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27
So God becomes a man so that He Himself can reverse the curse for the creation He loves. This is the way out I mentioned above. It was the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The wages (or penalty) of sin is death. So Jesus became the substitutionary death for mankind (for you and me). In essence, dying to take the penalty (death) for your sin and mine and redeem all who would accept this incredible gift of grace.
Imagine with me that God never reversed the curse. He just left man to die in our sin, never to be reconciled to a perfect God. We would stand in that judgment helpless, and unable to make our wrongs right.
Instead, God not only said I’ll make a way to return to me, but His very own sacrificial act of death became the Way! Side note, the earliest Christians who believed in Jesus after His resurrection called themselves followers of “the Way”. I love this! Jesus claimed first that He was God and secondly that He was the only way to be reconciled to the Father. He died in our place. We deserved death, but He accepted our sentence upon Himself so that we can be forgiven. Now, for those who accept Jesus as the sinless Son of God who died and rose again, they are accepted by God in Jesus Christ.
For God made Christ [Jesus], who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT
God allowed right standing to be achieved only through the person and work of Jesus Christ. God made it so simple to receive this free gift, that all that is needed is faith.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works… Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NKJV
By faith, I’ve received the gift of God – pardon for my guilt – and you can too. I’ve been made right before God in the person of Jesus Christ – and I invite you to do this. My eternity with God is secure. What incredible grace! Is yours?
And this is why I need a tambourine in my shower, or perhaps every room of my house! I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for this undeserved gift.
If you want more of this God too, He won’t disappoint you. You may have been disappointed by circumstances in your life. They may have even kept you at a distance from Him. But don’t confuse your circumstances with WHO GOD IS, and His incredible grace. He wants you to have a reason to sing! Even more, he wants to BE the reason you sing!
Click HERE for Part 2!
Please reach out below if you have questions, or would like to chat. I’d LOVE to hear from you. I’d love to pray with you.
