Black and White Don't Make Gray

Lately there have been a lot of grey areas in my life. For example, I went to get a battery for my minivan this week. The battery cost 94.95 but when the guy rang up the item, the total was 121.00. I'm sure the look on my face was one of bewilderment. How did a 95 dollar battery become 25 dollars more. The sales clerk reassured me that if I returned my old battery, I'd receive $12 back. 'How is that supposed to even things out?' I'm wondering. But with all the kids with me, I took his word and left the details up to my husband. A grey issue.  Then there's the issues with my children. Someone hurts someone else and when I step in to deal with the situation, I can't get a clear answer of what just happened. A grey area. And this week we received a car insurance bill that had gone up almost $100 without an explanation. A grey area. I could sit here and list many grey areas in my life. Places where things aren't cut and dry, black and white. And I'm sure you could too.

Praise God that He is a black and white, cut and dry, right and wrong, no nonsense Heavenly Father! Can you imagine if God's Word was full of grey areas and all muddied up? If instead of setting clear boundaries for us, He made exceptions to sin? Wow. What life would be like - not good. But our loving God isn't like that. He says sin is sin, you either partake in it, or you don't. You choose to obey the Bible or you don't. You choose to love Him or you don't. You're either saved or your not. Simple.

I love that God is full of absolutes in this crazy world of grey areas. I love that we can absolutely take Him at His word. And that He will absolutely be faithful to what He tells us in Scripture. I love that He lays out clear guidelines for how we should act and what we can expect from Him, and Him from us.
          That when we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse 
                     us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). 
          That He demonstrates his own love for us in that while we were sinners, Jesus died for us
                    (Romans 5:8)
          That if we confess with our mouths "Jesus is Lord" and believe in our hearts that God raised him
                    from the dead, we will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
          That His Word is living and active, sharper than any double edged sword (Hebrews 4:12) That He
                    calls us to be holy because He is Holy (1Peter 1:15-16) 
           In the 4th chapter of Ephesians, He tells us to be humble and gentle, patient, bearing with one
                    another in love (4:2); to speak truthfully to our neighbors (4:25); to not sin in our anger
                    (4:26); to not let unwholesome talk come out of our mouths, but only what is helpful for
                    building others up (4:29); to be kind and compassionate (4:32). 
This is barely the beginning of all the hundreds of verses that spell it out for us. His Word is clear, precise, to the point. His boundaries are layed out. No mud. No grey. We either chose His way or our way. Simple. Thank God that there are no addendums or confusing legal attachments at the end of scripture that make exceptions to His Word. He is Faithful, Loving, Perfect, Holy. That's it. What a Mighty God we serve!