I can’t hear the word unacceptable without thinking of the Tom Hank’s movie, Terminal. He was a foreigner forced to take up full-time residence in an airport due to paperwork bureaucracy. He is told repeatedly, he can’t enter the country because he is “unacceptable”.
However, since his English is not that good, he has no idea what that means. All that he does know is that he’s trapped in a hopeless situation.
You find yourself rooting for him and cheering when he’s finally able to leave. When he can pursue his dream to go to New York City. The day when he and his paperwork are now . . .acceptable.
I think we live our lives a lot like that. Stuck in a frustrating existence. Feeling, unacceptable.
Except that it’s a lie.
Let’s take a look at our paperwork to find out.
1 Peter 2:5 says, “And you are living stones that God is building into His spiritual temple. What’s more, you are His holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please (are acceptable to) God.”
Are you part of the body of Christ?
• If so, you are a living stone being built into His temple. The “is building” part implies you are a work in progress. He is not finished with you yet, so be patient.
• You are His holy priest. I don’t know about you, but there are days, I feel substantially less than holy. And my deserved job description would be more similar to the coat girl. But He says that I am a holy priest.
• I am to offer spiritual sacrifices. The Bible has much to say about being a “living sacrifice”. In essence, it is a life lived for Him.
People may say that you are unacceptable. You may even say it to yourself.
But, because of Jesus’s ultimate sacrifice, a life lived for Him is stamped ACCEPTABLE. You are good enough. He made sure of it.
A Hunger For More 
Thank you. We are indeed much more than we or others give us credit for being. I think this is mainly due to the responsibility that comes with accepting this position. It is a high calling and the sacrifice to follow is high. We often don’t want to give up our own preferences and comfort to truly do what we should be, so we diminish our truth, for lack of a better word. We don’t like all or nothing propositions. This is why we must spur each other on.
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Amen! Here is to spurring each other on. 🙂
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Thanks for sharing this today, Mary. I especially connected with the concept of living stones since some of the characters in my novel go into a living stone-like state.
And as someone who is still waiting on a sign of approval in my professional journey, it was good to hear that I’m already acceptable in my spiritual one.
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Characters that turn to living stone sound pretty cool to me. Then again, I think you and are the same kind of weird.
Better to have our acceptance rest in Christ than the world’s fleeting acceptance.
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