Good morning and welcome in everyone. Today we’re going to take a look at a passage of scripture from Heb 4:16 but before we do that I wanted to tell you a little story.
One Summer many years ago, I was trying to find a hobby to do on the weekends that would be fun and enjoyable but inexpensive at the same time. During my lunch breaks at work I would search through the hobby magazines to see what interested me. One day I came across model airplanes. Since I was a kid I always wanted to fly. The thought of looking across the landscape from 3000 feet up was very interesting to me but I knew that I’d probably never be able to afford the real thing. Model airplanes seemed that they would be the next best thing for me.
One weekend after work I went down to the Hobby Shop to buy one. Many of the kits were made out of balsa wood and they told me that if you crashed it you’d probably have to buy a brand new kit again. They recommended a very forgiving plane for first-time learners which I eventually puchased. It came with a 6-foot wingspan and they referred to it as a dummy plane because if you crashed it, you could repair it very easily because it was made out of Styrofoam and plastic.
I opened up the box in my living room and over a weekend, I had it completely built. It was pretty big. I went to the store and bought a good motor and a prop. I also bought an RC controller and a charger with all the servos. After a few more days I had everything ready to fly. The huge wing was detachable by rubber bands otherwise it would have never fit in my car when I went to the field. I gassed it up and charged the batteries overnight and one Saturday morning I took off to a park to see how it flew.
I took out my electric starter to start the prop and that motor buzzed loudly as if to tell me I’m ready to go. I cranked up the throttle and up in the air she went but because I didn’t have my ailerons set right, she rolled on her side and went crashing into the ground. I picked up the pieces and went back home and spent the afternoon on fixing it. The next Sunday morning I went to the park again and fired it up. She took off into the air. Everything was looking great until my plane ran into the power line that I didn’t see and almost tore my wing in half. Off to the store I went to buy glue and new props.
Each night it seems I was fixing, adjusting and repairing things on that plane. A few weeks later, I ran my plane straight into the ground and on another occasion into a telephone pole. One day I thought I had really learned to fly but I came in at the wrong angle for a landing and off went the wing again. I guess they had the right nickname for that plane because that dummy plane was made just for me. With a steadfast heart I never quit trying though, I never gave up, and after about a month I was flying and landing without any difficulties at all but it took a while to learn.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
It takes a while to learn how to fly but God gives us the grace we need to get back up on our feet again. I think it took me 20 to 30 attempts to finally learn how to fly without crashing my plane into the dirt, but eventually I learned. We learn through success and failure. We learn through trial and error. Just like me patching up that plane each night, it was ready to go the next day to try it again. When I think about that plane so many years ago, it reminds me of what Jesus does for each of us. God wants us to fly and he gives us innumerable amounts of Grace to get it right. How forgiving and merciful is God towards us? Listen to what he taught the Apostle Peter.
Matt 18:21-22 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Because the Lord Jesus taught this to Peter, we can start to understand how forgiving God is towards us. God is filled with mercy and Grace for all those who call upon his name. He provides it so that we can get back up on our feet and try it again.
How many of you parents have had a young child who you’ve tried to teach how to ride a bike? Each time they fell down what did you do? Because you love and care for them you picked them up and put them back on the bike so they could try it again. Maybe they fell off many many times but each time you continue to pick them up. This is what God provides to us through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He gives us Grace in time of need to get back up and try it again.
There are many people in the world today who really don’t understand the depths and riches of God’s forgiveness. They don’t understand that there is Grace available so that they can try it again. God doesn’t want us to keep repenting from dead works but to go on unto perfection. That is the goal. In order to achieve that final result he gives us the grace we need.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Like helping your child ride the bike God wants to help us to become perfected in love. Whether true or not I don’t know, but it’s been said that Thomas Edison failed a thousand times before he finally created the light bulb. Apparently some of his teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything.
I’m glad that God has given me so much grace in my life. He picks me up each time I fall. I’m like a dummy plane that God has been working on all my life but I do know this, there is grace for me to grow, and someday I’m gonna fly.
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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