Contemplative Bible Reading

Titus 1:16 (New Living Translation)

16 Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.

Can you believe such people? I mean can you believe the things such people do? They deny God. And not with their words, but with their actions. Such people are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.

Hmm. How about that? How about me? Uh, well, you know, I live right. Right? Well, maybe some days, but I shoveled out someone else’s driveway and helped a person whose car was stuck in the snow become unstuck. Surely those things are acknowledging rather than denying God. And God gives good people like me a break, right?

Yes, God gives us all a break. It’s called grace. And I can have bad days, and God will give me a break. And I can’t work my way to heaven by the way I live. And now we’ve come around in a big circle back to the beginning.

God has saved me. I couldn’t do that. I cannot live so good that I earn that. I can wake each morning and ask God to help me through the day and live in a way that acknowledges what God has done for me. I can obey and do good for others.