Think Big…Think God
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. (Deuteronomy10:17).
At the Chama Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse they place a thin card on your napkin. One side is green with a Cowboy riding flames on a stallion. It says, “Sim, por favor” (YES, PLEASE). “Nao, obrigado” (NO, THANK YOU) is on the opposite orange side with another Cowboy riding flames on a stallion. By keeping the green side up saying, “Sim por favor” they just keep bringing you one succulent strip of meat after another. It is the most meat loving lavish, decadent, enjoyable thing you will do for some time. If every American ate at Chama Gaucha just once a week North America would be underwater as far inland as Denver. Well, in terms of giving grace by a Chama Guacha card guess which side God allows you to always have up!? That’s right - “Sim por favor.”
God is not cheap! When Jesus feeds 5, 000 there are 12 baskets left over. When he receives the prodigal son there is a fatted calf and the best robe. The rainbow for Noah… the tabernacle of Sinai…the manna in the wilderness…all show his sumptuous care and concern. Most of all there is this! “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32)?
God is not partial! Justice is not a greased pig to Jesus. Sin is evil. God is holy. A soul that sins must die. The sin of all people had to be paid for. In love Jesus assumed our sin and became it. By faith in him sin is forgiven. God’s justice is satisfied. Heaven is free for all. When God on high says all lives matter it is not a mere rebuke that means black lives somehow don’t. His death and resurrection prove all lives matter. Jesus cares for the outcast…the untouchable…the self-righteous… the red and yellow black and white; all are precious in his sight.
God is not small! A little boy got on an elevator with his dad to go up the 102 story Empire State building. Doors closed, the floor whooshed up beneath them. 10-20-30-40…up they went. A little hand gripped his dad’s hand and weakly asked, “Does God know we’re coming?” You bet he does. “For the Lord your God is the god of gods and the Lord of lords…” He is unsurpassed. When he makes an ocean no man can fathom it. When he makes a starry sky no one can measure it. When he makes snowflakes fall there are no duplicates anywhere. Are you living the formula for faith based optimism? Think big…think God. And, for heaven’s sake, get your green side grace Chama Gaucha card up…“Sim por favor!”
