MY God....

Yesterday my mind was on how we turn things that remind us of God into idols.

Today, I remembered another aspect of "images of God" that we discussed last week in Sunday School. Not only are we not to create images of God, but included in that command is to not create our own image of God. Let me give you an example...

My friend is engaged to be married. She says that sex before marriage is okay because they are in love and are going to get married. She says that God knows her heart and that He understands. Besides, "marriage" is just a sheet of paper.

The fact of the matter is, God forbids sex outside of marriage. Period.

There are other things that we as Christians do and say to modify God to meet our needs. Can you think of any?
My God understands my situation....
My God knows my heart....
My God made me this way....
My God knows the circumstances that lead up to my decision....
My God would not allow more than you can bear....
My God.....

We sin. That is a fact. We live in a broken world full of sinful people and bad things happen, even things that are too much for us to bear apart from Christ. This isn't going to change this side of Heaven.

To accept that I sin and ask forgiveness for my sin is one thing. To deny responsibility for my sin by altering my perception of God so that I believe He overlooks my sin or even makes allowances for my sin is all together different. It goes completely against the character of God to say that He will tolerate or permit any sin.  He takes sin so seriously that He sent Jesus to be crucified to atone for our sin.

God does understand our situations and he does know our hearts, but He did not make us this way. He created mankind to be perfect, but He understands the sinful world we have created and the circumstances that lead up to the sinful decisions we make. Still, they are sinful decisions and He knows the penalty we must pay for our sin and that this is more than we can bear, so He sent Christ to pay that penalty for us. He understands that sin separates us from Him and will never condone thoughts, words, or actions that lead to the heartache and consequences that are attached to sinful behavior.

MY God loves us too much to condone any behavior that will separate us from Him.