Right Side Up - Wishful Thinking

'He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”'
-Jesus of Nazareth, 1st century
Luke 18:9-14 in the English Standard Version Bible

[This is the 6th message of this series]

It's in our nature to think that we are justified in God's eyes and that we can gain entry into God's heaven because we aren't as bad as other people, and because we haven't done anything evil. We console ourselves that if there are to be people condemmed for hell, then we should be towards the end of that line as there will surely be a large number of people in line ahead of us to go there first. Or we believe that we shouldn't even deserve to go there because our sins are so petty and that we do our best to do good deeds to pay for our shortcomings.

Most strive to think positive, remain optimistically in high spirits, and hope for the best. And we rest in our works of righteousness and good deeds.

Our wrong thinking comes from the fact that we argue from our perspective, from our human intellect. We wish to gain God's favor and even entry into God's heaven, but through our own way, our own strength and our own terms, as we usually do with anything.

Limited

Now, however "good" we are, or how smart, we can never be good enough or intelligent enough to gain entry into heaven. We will always fall short. One transgression is all it takes to keep us out. And thus we are all disqualified. No one can live life flawlessly.

The Way

It is God's heaven, and He provided the Way to get there. But as we usually do, we insist in doing things our way. In a general sense, people refuse to accept that they are created beings. People refuses to acknowledge the lower position they are in, and the higher position, God has, as the Creator. People do not want anyone telling them what to do.

Born That Way

People are always comparing themselves against other people, be it telling themselves they aren't as bad as other people, or that they are better than others, or both -- like what the Pharisee did when he prayed as we read from the excerpt above, from the Book of Luke. It is as if, we were born that way, or that it is in our nature.

Upside Down

As someone who believes in God, our attitude should be that of the tax collector. Daily we ought to be asking God for strength, to have mercy on us, and not trying to call attention to ourselves or in the good deeds that we are able to do, not to brag like a Pharisee would.

It's always opposite in God's economy, people who humble themselves will be lifted high, while those who lift themselves will be humbled.

Yes, exactly like Newton's 3rd Law of Motion. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.