© 2020. Bill Murphy
Floyd was an unarmed soldier in wartime. He was a medic. Floyd did not believe in killing, yet he served his country by helping to save the lives of others.
Floyd’s unit was pinned down by enemy fire, and several of his buddies lay wounded just ahead. Although without means of defending himself, he charged forward, to administer aid to this wounded buddies, and to help them back to safety.
Then Floyd too was hit, but he ignored his own wound. Reached his bleeding buddy, he dragged the man to safety. Then Floyd charged forward again, and again he was it by enemy fire. Yet he continued to limp forward, to his fallen comrade, and dragged him also back to safety.
Floyd repeated this feat the third time, before the battle was over. He’d rescued three of his friends, while being wounded himself in his arm, shoulder, and leg.
The simple truth is that Floyd RECEIVED three wounds, wounds which would has stopped many a man. But Floyd didn’t ACCEPT these wounds, instead he ignored them, and charged back into the fray over and over again. And here lies the huge difference between the two commonly used words ‘accept’ and ‘recieve.’
ACCEPT: To receive, but with a consent, with favor, or with approval.
RECIEVE: To take, as something that is offered, given, committed, sent, paid, etc.; to be given something. To take possession of.
True, ‘accept’ and ‘recieve’ mean almost the same thing, but the big difference between the two is that to ‘accept’ requires a VALUE JUDGEMENT. Floyd recieved the enemy bullets into his flesh. He didn’t want them, they were inflicted upon him by the enemy. But after these wounds had been received, Floyd made a value judgement: to be counted among the fallen wounded and fall down himself… or to ignore the painful fact that he too was wounded, and continue on in his original mission of rescue. He chose not to accept the wounds which he had recieved, and he pressed on.
Leaving the horrors of war and the pain of the battlefield, lets go to a far more peaceful place, perhaps one of the most peaceful places on earth, the house of God, the church.
The service is ending, and there is a call for all who will, to come forward and surrender their hearts to The Lord.
Can we save ourselves? No, of course not! Do we know what our future holds? Hardly! But God does. Who hold the power to heal? It is not within our hands, but in Gods. Who is the Alpha, the Omega, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords? He is, of course!
That said, how then can I, as weak and helpless and hopless as I am, be in any position to pass judgement upon God? What gives me the ability and right to place God in the scales of judgement, and weigh Him as to His ability to save my soul? I have neither right nor power to weigh Him as being ACCEPTABLE or not.
Remember: acceptance is the same thing as recieving but with a major codicile: to ‘accept’ requires a value judgement!
ACCEPT/RECIEVE. What’s the big deal? The same pastors who asks us to ‘accept’ the Lord have no problem understanding the difference between tithing and giving.
My point in this is to simply say that perhaps it’s best to use the correct words, to better express what we truly mean. How would you feel, after telling someone, “I love you,” to have them tell you in return, “I like you too.”?
Perhaps God’s not too happy about being judged if He’s ‘acceptable’ or not.
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Pen In Hand 