We can accept God's grace to live within the loving embrace of His will.
How is this different from the invitation God issues to everyone? It is not different at all. We are each given a generous invitation to live within God's will, and we are each free to respond. The cloistered heart analogy is simply one way of envisioning it.
God placed the first human beings on this earth and gave instructions on how to live (Genesis 2:16-17). It was pretty simple, really, and absolutely do-able. God said, in essence: here is all you will ever need. A splendid bounty. You don't even have to work for it. All I ask is that you trust Me, trust that I know what's best for you, and just do not eat of that one single solitary tree.
All these millenia later, we still face the same basic choice. Because of that first move out of the will of God, we were not born into Eden - but thanks to Our Savior, we do have an eternal world of glory awaiting us. And we also have an opportunity to live, even on earth, in the best location possible. A place from which we can look with anticipation toward our eternal Home. A place in which we can be assured that God is ordering our circumstances (even when we see them as painful or murky) toward nothing but good.
It is all so basic. We are issued an invitation. Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died to provide all the grace we need to accept it.
How will we respond?
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Suggested links from our archives:
Location, Location, Location
Just Having a Look
(portions of this post were taken from our archives)
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