Stuffed animals fly with the pillows over the arguing. SIGH. But this time I’m not sure what to do except smile. The kids argue over who will read the Bible verse for bedtime. I love it! However, as they begin to read, I realize that neither one is listening. The competition of arriving at the scripture and the argument over who will read each verse drives these young men. They completely miss the point. They almost get the point. Almost.
They know where they need to be. IN THE WORD. They are in the WORD. Therefore, they are being obedient. Or are they? Obedience vs. Disobedience: Is there such a thing as partial obedience? Blame it on the distractions. Blame it on each other. Blame it on the arguing. Regardless of the distractions, were they being obedient? Almost.
- It’s almost time!
- He’s almost right.
- She’s almost wrong.
- It’s almost fair.
- I’m almost done.
- It’s almost perfect. Not quite.
- Almost divided. There is hope. It’s not divided.
- She’s almost parenting. Huh?
- He’s almost willing.
- She’s almost responsible.
- It’s almost safe. I wouldn’t want to go there.
- He’s almost healed.
- She’s almost taught. Whose fault? The teacher or student?
- He’s almost learning. Not learning now, is he?
- We’re almost there!
What about almost saved? Is being almost obedient like being almost saved?
I almost answered but I will move on. Struggling with obedience is common. I try to justify my actions as though I am being obedient. How about you? Or are you being ‘almost’ honest with yourself and not answering?
1 Corinthians 13:9-10 (ESV) “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.”
Part means: one of the constituent parts of a whole. If it’s almost a whole, let’s replace the word with almost. “For we know “almost” and we prophesy “almost”, 10 but when the perfect comes, the “almost” will pass away.”
Will the ALMOST pass away? You bet! Only when the perfect comes. When Jesus comes into our lives we can be completely obedient. We can’t do it in our sinful humanly state. We long for Jesus. We need Jesus.
There is power in the mighty name of Jesus! He brings on the perfection!
~Shelley Rindfuss
