Put right is not us getting it right all the time!

So many times we want to assume that there is no way we can be "put right" in life because we can only see the "wrong" we have done.  We see how frequently we fall and struggle to get up - God sees how many times he has the opportunity to help us to our feet again.  God doesn't see the wrong as much as he sees how he has already put things right for us in the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus.  Isn't it about time we change our perspective of the "wrong" we think is unforgivable in our lives and begin to see what God sees when he looks at us - lives "put right" with him?

God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.  (2 Corinthians 5:21 MSG)  

We evaluate people by what they have and how they look - God sees them by a totally different standard.  He sees them not as wealthy, or well-dressed, but as "needy" individuals - needy of a Savior - needy of being "put right". This is indeed a different perspective of how we should begin to view others, is it not?  When we finally begin to transition to this "view" of another, we begin to see them as Christ sees them.  As scripture so aptly points out, anyone who has accepted the work of Christ in their lives gets a new start - they get things "put right".

Think about this for just a moment - it isn't that we "work our way" to being "right" again.  It is that we are "PUT" right.  This is really more of a passive action than "working" our way toward anything - it is the action of another on our behalf.  Isn't it just like us to think we have to get all our "fallen leaves" in a pile before we can even begin to think our "yard" has been cleaned up? It is indeed good news to me to know God "puts" things in my life "in order" through his Son, not by what I am able to do in my own effort.  It isn't as though I need to just "sit back" and do nothing once I ask Jesus to be my Savior - but obedience to what he asks is not really me doing the "work" of salvation.  I am "put right" by his work - anything he asks of me from that point forward is just a way of revealing my commitment to his work within me. 

It may seem a little hard for some to believe - someone who never did anything wrong to assume the total wrong of another.  It is contrary to how we act and how we view life - for this type of sacrifice is indeed not "normal". It is "super" normal!  It took God about one nano-second to put my life in order again - it has taken me a lifetime to realize I don't have to work at being "put right" anymore!  Why is it so hard for us to accept this work of God on our behalf?  Probably because it is harder to accept a gift we don't deserve than one we feel we have earned!

Forgiveness is really a fresh start - you don't have to focus on the fact you have fallen because you are / have been "put right" on your feet again!  When we find it hard to "get beyond" our failures, we sometimes need a good "setting right" in our focus again - because somehow we forgot God has "put us right", will continue to "put us right", and is all about the business of "putting us right" for as many times as we need it until we get "put right" for good! Maybe this isn't rocket science here, but I genuinely think there are more people who struggle with this than are willing to admit they do - for those individuals who are constantly "working" toward "being right", please just listen.  God has put you right ALREADY - so why are you trying to do all the work over again?

When God declares something to be a certain way, it is.  When he declares us as "put right", we are.  All God ever asks of us is to accept his gift - all we need is this close intimate connection with him.  We cannot add anything to what he does for us - for what he does is a completed work.  Think about it - when something is "completed", it is finished.  All parts needed are already there - we are lacking nothing.  Perhaps today is a good day to begin to accept God "putting us right" and stop all this fruitless "work" of trying to put ourselves right.  Just sayin!