Accountability Rocks

Jesus said, "If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you're accountable for every fault and failure." (John 9:41)

So, this is not quite what I was looking for when I did a search on "accountable," "accountability," and "answer to" in the Bible. But alas, when we remember verses out of context and in our own wording, sometimes it's hard to go back to find them later! I was looking for something that spoke to the idea of being accountable to each other. This verse is a bit more didactic.

But, that doesn't mean it's not the verse that needs to be read today. Because it's true. If I know how to live a life like Christ, and I willingly choose not to, I will be held accountable for my actions. Ouch. That isn't like an every-day occurance for me at all.

Look at the first half though--if you don't know something that God has set forth as a precept, you are not accountable for it. I'm sure there have been times that we have broken the rules unknowingly. How gracious is our God, who does not find fault in us if we don't know what we're doing? Even Christ asked God to forgive the men who nailed Him to the cross, for they knew not. Wow. That's some amazing grace right there.

So in a daring leap, I will bring this to my original idea. How can we help ourselves to avoid a looooong accountability session with God when we get to Heaven? By having people hold us accountable down here.

I fully believe that if you have someone in your life to whom you can tell anything (anything), you will be the better for it. Sometimes we only need to speak out a fear or desire or worry to someone who can assure us that we are ok the way we are. And sometimes we need to be able to confess our sins to someone who loves us. It's a way for God to show us His forgiveness in a tangible way--through others. And sometimes we just need someone who will ask us if we've done our writing assignment or walked those 2 miles or learned to play the guitar like we said we would.

This blog, and you dear reader, are my accountability for being in the Word every day. If I didn't have this, I don't know how well I'd be doing it. And sadly, I'm in a class where reading the Bible regularly and reporting on it is actually the homework. But would I be reading it every day? If evidence of the last class proves anything, the answer would be no.

So I thank you for reading this, because you are holding me accountable. I may have stopped the food fast that my church is doing, but I am going strong with this part, and this is what I felt called to most strongly, and what I would like to keep doing in some form after the fast as well.

The moral then? Find accountability now, because you'll definitely be giving an account of yourself later.