💡 THOUGHTS FROM ME
I. God is not opposed to effort; He is opposed to earning.
Following Jesus is not easy; it does take effort. But it is not our efforts that save us.
The Apostle Paul writes, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). So our efforts, while good, don’t save us.
However, one verse later, he reminds us: “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” (Eph. 2:10)
This means that salvation cannot be earned; it is a gift of grace. But following Jesus does take effort. Forgiving those who hurt us, being outrageously generous, or pursuing a biblical sexual ethic isn’t easy. That’s why God gives us His Spirit to help us.
To live in the way of Jesus will take effort.
God is not against effort. He’s only against earning.
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II. One of my favorite reminders:
If you are in Christ Jesus, you have nothing to prove and no one to impress.
You have nothing to prove because Jesus proved it all for you, and his righteousness is given to all who repent and believe in him.
You have no one to impress because if you are in Christ, you have already been accepted by the king of the universe. If God welcomes you, you don’t need to try to be impressive to others.
📖 UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE
In Genesis 3, Eve “saw and took” the forbidden fruit. From that story on, the “saw and took” formula (Hebrew: ra’ah…laqach) becomes a pattern throughout the Old Testament. Whenever someone “saw and took,” it signals grasping for something God has not given, and the results are always destructive.
Here are the key places this pattern shows up:
Genesis 3:6 — Eve saw that the fruit was good, delightful to look at, and desirable, and she took it. (The prototype for the pattern.)
Genesis 6:2 — The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took them as wives. (Sets up a narrative of corruption before the flood.)
Genesis 12:14–15 — Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai’s beauty and took her into Pharaoh’s house. (Danger and exploitation echoing Eden’s disorder.)
Genesis 34:2 — Shechem saw Dinah, took her, and violated her. (Clear abuse framed in the “see and take” pattern.)
Joshua 7:21 — Achan saw a beautiful cloak and silver/gold among the plunder, coveted them, and took them. (His sin brings judgment on Israel.)
2 Samuel 11:2–4 — David saw Bathsheba, desired her, and took her. (A king repeating the Eden pattern in devastating fashion.)
Each story echoes Eden: instead of trusting God, people seize what they want, and it leads to sin, pain, and loss.
When we “see and take” what is pleasing to our eyes while ignoring God, bad things happen.
💬 1 HELPFUL QUOTE
I. Charles Spurgeon on discernment:
“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”
📚 1 BRIEF BOOK REVIEW
A book about the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, which was the first manned flight to ever reach the moon.
When you already know how the story ends and yet still have many moments of surprise and uncertainty, you have a well-written book.
While at times there seemed to be unnecessary details added, overall the book was well-researched, put together, and exciting. You almost feel a little like you are in the control room itself, waiting to see how everything will turn out.
The book got better as it went on, which makes sense given that the flight itself took up the second half of the book. And there is a page about three-quarters of the way through the book that will definitely make your eyes mist. You'll know exactly the spot I'm referring to if you read the book.
I knew next to nothing about the Apollo missions before this book, so I was glad to have learned more about the space program as well. A very enjoyable read.
P.S. The moon landing was absolutely real.
8.5/10
P.S. The wrong way to start a first date…
