Honestly!

Hebrews 4:3-5

For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said,

“In my anger I took an oath:

‘They will never enter my place of rest,’”

even though this rest has been ready since he made the world. We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.” But in the other passage God said, “They will never enter my place of rest.” (NLT)

“Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average.” (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 58)

The Hebrews writer flips
back and forth
Psalms – Genesis – Psalms,
wondering, pondering,
shuffling puzzle parts —
my kindred spirit millennia ago.
Predestination clashes
with compassion,
renders vile images
of God.
Yet what turns us away from proffered grace,
justifies in panicked minds some other course?
Why does honesty alienate our bejesus?

God, help me to grasp
and develop
a manner of living
in rigorous honesty.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.