Sunday, January 15, 2012

Reflections

I was thinking about Chronicles, Numbers, Ezra and other portions of the Scriptures where name after name and begat after begat are listed; names that we cannot pronounce and that really mean nothing to us personally. Why are they there? Why did God put these strange names in the Bible? To make it boring, to confuse us, to see if we could learn to pronounce them? No, because every word was put there to teach us, and every person named was important to God; even the unnamed ones like the woman at the well and the poor widow were important and loved by God. These are not just names, they are people close to God’s heart.

The sinners who never repented were also loved by Him, the Jews and Romans who spit in Jesus’ face and beat Him were loved by God and it breaks His heart each time He has to let an unsaved, unrepentant soul enter the gates of hell when they die. God is merciful, but He is also a righteous judge and cannot let a sinner into heaven; it is the person’s own choice to turn away from God and want to live their own way.

As a parent it tears us apart to see our child grow up and go into a life of crime; we did not raise them that way, but they decided to go that way or they were caught by addiction leading them that way. Everything that the parent does to try to help them or get them to change, does not work and the child continually rejects the parents and their help. To us, that wayward child is still ours and loved and important to us and although we try to help and protect them, we are rejected more and more because that child wants no part of us. We end up with a broken heart because there is nothing we can do, they have to make the decision on their own to stay on that path and they will have to pay the penalty for any crimes which they have done.

It is hard for the non-Christian to understand where a Christian is coming from when they tell them about Jesus because they believe in their heart and soul that they are “OK” and the Christian is just trying to shove their religion down their throat. True, there are some over-zealous Christians who may come on too strong, but they truly want what is best for the lost. Of course there are the cults who are not Christian at all, but say they are and promise all kinds of things to get a following.

Christians may be saved by grace, but they still sin and when they do, the world (or neighbor) watches and thinks they are no better than themselves. That is true, Christians are not better than anyone else, they just love their father, have given their heart and life to Jesus, and try to do what’s right. Because they are not better or not stronger, or not any different than anyone else, they still will sin. Let’s face it, doing something wrong is so much easier than doing the right thing - always has been and always will be; not one of us is able to stay free from sin; however, we do need to do things God’s way and we cannot do that unless we are His child.

As much as we love our children or spouse, our parents or even ourselves, we don’t even come close to how much God loves each of us. When Jesus says, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” He means NEVER; we are always the one who leaves Him and sadly some end up lost forever. That is not what God wants for you or me or any one; every single person is special to Him and loved more than we could possibly understand. Knowing what I do about myself makes it hard to comprehend that He could love me that much; but I understand even less how someone could walk away from that love into a Christ-less eternity.

In the end, we each have to make the choice of where we want to spend eternity; and if we go on living without God or acknowledging our need for Him, we are making the choice to stay away from Him and His love. We will have to pay for our sins if we don’t accept the gift of His Son who paid the price for us. If you think you are OK - just remember one little white lie will send you to hell, so you are not “home free” and on your way to heaven unless you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.