What kind of God is this?

I am currently reading the book, Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges.

God is not watching me from His heavenly throne saying, “When are you going to get your act together? When are you going to deal with that sin?” Rather, He is, as it were, coming alongside me, saying, “We are going to work on that sin, but meanwhile I want you to know that I no longer count it against you.” (Bridges, Jerry. Respectable Sins (p. 28). NavPress. Kindle Edition.) 

Unfortunately, I do not think the picture of a God who comes along side me is one that is preached in many churches today.

In many churches, we see the first God, the God who is watching you, waiting for you to fix yourself. The God of the prosperity preachers, who tell you that you need to have a better self-worth to live your best life. The God of the Pharisee who thanked God that he was not like the tax-collector sinner who stood a ways off from him.

Let me clarify, I am not, nor do I believe is Bridges in his book, saying that God is okay with our sin. In fact, quite the opposite. It's just that the means of dealing with that sin are two polar opposites.

In the first case, it is all on us. God is watching while we must fix it. That is a huge burden, an unbearable one as I constantly fall and must pick myself up again and again. Yet Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  (Matt 11:29-30) 

In the second, it is a joint effort. God and me. The elephant and mouse on the bridge. You know, so that when they got to the other side, the mouse looked up at the elephant and said, "Boy, we sure shook that bridge, didn't we." We are yoked together with Jesus, just as two oxen (or an elephant and a mouse) are put together to plow a field. We are a work in progress and God leads us as we stay yoked to Him and follow His leading. As we pray, as we study His word, as we surrender to His Spirit. As we live in the joy that exists because of the assurance of salvation. John Piper calls it "Christian Hedonism." Where hedonism is the pursuit of ecstasy for pleasures sake, I understand Christian Hedonism as the pursuit of the ecstasy that is found in God alone. The more I find that my joy in God, the lighter my burden becomes, because now when I choose not to follow the ways of the world to satisfy my longings, but rather the ways of God, the burden is light because it is what my heart truly desires. It is why David could say that his delight is in the law of the Lord. (Ps 1:1-2, 40:8, 119:69-72, 119:92-93, 119:174)

I will end today with this quote from the book, "This twofold effect of encouragement and gratitude together produce in us a desire to deal with our sin. Make no mistake: Dealing with our sin is not an option. We are commanded to put sin to death. It is our duty to do so. But duty without desire soon produces drudgery. And it is the truth of the gospel, reaffirmed in our hearts daily, that puts desire into our duty." (Bridges, Jerry. Respectable Sins (p. 28). NavPress. Kindle Edition.)