Is there any end to it?

I can remember saying, "When I grow up, I will NEVER have to do this again!" All these years later, I don't know how many times I found myself complaining about something that needed to be done, but I still have to clean the toilet, pick weeds, and wipe down sticky cabinet shelves. I struggled back then with the "desire" to do what needed to be done because everything inside of me was saying, "I don't wanna!" It was one of those "I'm sitting down on the outside, but standing up on the inside!" moments. Did growing up really change much? Nope! I just came to realize toilets aren't automatic cleaning, weeds keep growing, and if you have any food in your cabinets at all, there will be messes.

Meanwhile, all the other people live however they wish, picking and choosing their gods. But we live honoring God, and we're loyal to our God forever and ever. (Micah 4:5 The Message)

We do an injustice to the holiness of God and the absolutes of the Word of God whenever we choose to "live however we wish" - picking and choosing what we will obey and what we will dismiss as not important, or even not applicable to our lives. Unfortunately, we do this more than we realize! We "filter out" the stuff that is "hard" to understand or "difficult" to comply with. We don't mind the "good" stuff - parts like blessings and riches - but we resist the "hard" stuff like obedience and paying a price. The truth is we need grace. Why? It is because of our desire to resist what we know is best for us! We find ourselves in the midst of the question asked of Eve many years ago...."Did God really say....?" How many times have we faced this same question in our lives? If we could just learn from the past mistakes of those who have gone before us, let alone our own past mistakes!
"But when all is said and done, God's Temple on the mountain, firmly fixed, will dominate all mountains, towering above surrounding hills. People will stream to it and many nations set out for it, saying, "Come, let's climb God's mountain. Let's go to the Temple of Jacob's God. He will teach us how to live. We'll know how to live God's way." (Micah 4:1-2) What NEVER ceases to bring me to my knees is the overwhelming grace of God when we clearly and defiantly choose our own way!

When all is said and done, this suggests there is an end to our rebellion. We cannot forever resist the truth of God. God will dominate - not as a demanding task-master, but as someone we willingly submit to because we see the tremendous love behind his grace! He will teach us to live - because without him, we are just making choices based on what we "think" will produce happiness and the freedom we desire. We can ignore wrong choices for a while, but eventually we want to feel "clean". The only "clean" we will ever need is the one called grace. We will know how to live God's way - because God will connect the dots for us! Today, we may only have one or two dots connected - in the end, he will reveal the total picture! In the meantime, we have moments of repentance and submission which allow the next dot to connect to the last. This process is repeated until we see revealed the final image - his Son revealed in us!

It is not by accident I point us so frequently to God's unmerited favor - it is simply because we need it so much! At least I do! I am not ashamed to admit it - I need his grace repeatedly (sometimes for the same silly thing over and over again!). There comes a time when we just desire to be "clean" again. It is in that moment that we realize that unless we are "washed" we have no hope of them being clean! Someone may point out the things that need to change in our lives from now till the cows come home, but until we actually realize we NEED clean hearts, we see no need to seek God's grace! Just sayin!