Be Reasonable... or not        By Carl McMurray

 

You know those last words as you head out the door on a trip. Someone says, “Be safe now!” Have you ever thought to yourself, “Aw shucks, I was going to be dangerous on this trip. Now I’ll have to change my plans.” Probably just me. Someone in a controversy says, “Be reasonable.”  “Rats,” you might think to yourself. “And here I was all set to go off on an emotional rampage.”

 

Sounds pretty silly doesn’t it? And yet, here’s the truth. We DO head off on trips and act dangerously. We nod off while driving because we want to hurry and get to our destination or we balance a Big Mac and fries on our lap while driving at 70 mph. And we DO go off on emotional rampages! We don’t like to admit we’re wrong so we argue ourselves into a corner, or we get mad and go on the attack instead of listening, changing, and improving ourselves.

 

Here’s a challenge. Let’s go ahead and be unreasonable for once. After all, is it reasonable that God should become a frail man and suffer death at the hands of men in order to PAY FOR THEIR SINS? That’s not reasonable.

 

Is it reasonable that He should continue to love us and forgive us after all the ugly ways that we treat Him in our lives? Is it reasonable that by the symbol of a burial in water, confessing Jesus as Lord in our lives, we might claim in our heart of hearts the forgiveness of grace that God offers His stumbling creation? This is not reasonable.

 

Is it reasonable that by refusing pre-marital sex we make our marriages stronger? Or by controlling our temper we achieve victories? Or by treating our wives with honor we become bigger men? Or by respecting our husbands we become more desirable wives? Or by being more concerned with people than money, we actually gain much -riches? Or by taking time from work with our children when they’re young we actually provide for their needs in years to come? These things just do not seem reasonable.

 

And that is my point. We are called to unreasonable service. Things that do not make sense according to the wisdom of men are already worked out by God’s wisdom to do you good. If God gives the directions then let me encourage you NOT to try and reason it out. It will make sense in awhile. His ways have been proven true for thousands of years. As you travel on this trip through life, don’t play it safe. Live dangerously. Take a chance; invite, counsel, help, share, speak to that person about Jesus. Go off on an emotional rampage; about sin. He’s calling us to an unreasonable service.