Under goodness or severity?

Romans 11:22 “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.”
God is fully love and compassion; however, God is a righteous Judge. We must never forget the fact that as a righteous judge He lays down judgment without prejudice or discrimination. Therefore, if we are not living under the grace of God, which was provided under the shed blood of Jesus, then we are in judgment, and God has every right to punish me for not following His commands. We read earlier in the book of Romans that there is a penalty for our sins. That penalty is seen in chapter 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” When we live outside of the grace of God then we are subject to His severity. Does God want this for you? NO! That is why He has provided a way; a gift; eternal life.
An awesome fact is that He had so much thought and love for me that He provided this gift for me. I was a wretch who did everything in my power to rebel against God and His love for me. I thought there was no way that He could ever use someone like me. I thought to myself, “I am to young to be thinking about this God stuff, I have my whole life ahead of me, and I want to have fun”, when in reality I was tore up inside. I was doing all this junk to try to impress people that I did not even like. I was lonely, and my self-esteem was at a dangerously low level. I was lonely in a crowded room, and I thought maybe if I partied with the right people, slept with enough people, and drank away my pain, that somehow I might feel good about my self. Self-esteem never came, and I became lonelier and lonelier, until God came into my life. He was calling me to Him. He made me realize that He wanted a relationship with me.
Right now, you can be living under the goodness or severity of God. If you choose goodness, you will be grafted into the family of God. What a wonderful realization that I can be apart of something real, pure, true, and eternal.
Digging deeper – 1 Peter 2:5-10

Tomorrows Readings:
Old Testament: psalm 96-98 New Testament Romans 12