The Lorax: Part Two

It case you couldn't tell... I really enjoyed The Lorax. :) Anyway, this is a continuation of this post. Take a look at the video below... then we'll continue.

It's a catchy song, right? But, if you listen to the words, you don't even have to listen closely, you might see the similarities between the Once-ler and yourself. How often do we, as humans, justify our sins? "How bad can it be? I'm just doing what comes naturally." We say to God, "you can't possibly expect me to be perfect, I'm human! You still love me in my sin, so as long as I sort of try a little, I'll be okay." But the answer is no. God knows that you won't ever stop sinning, but he wants you to try like it's nobody's business. He wants you to devote yourself to him, no strings attached.

I know how hard that is, I struggle with the sin:forgiveness ratio. How do we grieve over our sins, yet not beat ourselves up over them? As the movie comes to a close, the Once-ler regrets what he's doing as he sees the consequences. What does he do? He regrets it and grives over it, yes. But more importantly he waits for someone to make everything right. He waits patiently and hands over his knowledge and resources to someone that can help. We don't have to wait, Christ died and made everything right years ago. But that doesn't excuse us from the guilt and the regret. Without guilt or regret we would just keep on going in our sinful ways, and that isn't what God wants.

He wants us to regret what we've done, crawl to him, ask for forgiveness, and learn from it. Although I've used a silly medium to bring you this message... it might help to remember it. How often do we say "I'm just doing what comes naturally"? We can't use that as an excuse and hide behind it. Bring your concerns, regret, and guilt to God. Ask him how you can work on your sin:forgiveness ratio. He can forgive you and take your guilt away... trust me, it works.

~ Jessica