A few thoughts:
WE did not just happen.
We DO have some sort of a moral compass. (otherwise people would be getting married to animals, and sisters and brothers would start marrying.)
We like to think there is a plan for our lives. (we need something to have hope for)
We want to be good enough to go to heaven (if there is one, some might add)
And if there is a hell, we certainly would be too good to go there. (many think)
Did I touch any of you with those thoughts? They are thoughts I had before I gave my life over to Jesus.
We all want something to believe in. That is one that I really focused on when I was not walking with the Lord. Hope. I wanted hope. Hope for something. Hope for the next thing, hope for my future, hope so that today would not be a dark day. And when I closed my eyes at night, hope that tomorrow would be better than that day was. If your single, it's usually hope for the next relationship, if you childless, it's hope for a child. If your jobless, it's hope and excitement over the potential future, house hunting, hopeful in the next house...you get the idea. But you see, all that hope, is in human things. Things that can in an instant, end. Jobs, relationships, children, and homes, they all can be put to end, and often do. Women miscarry, homes burn down and jobs are lost on a weekly basis. So then what? You just start hoping for the next thing? And now what do you do with the loss you are experiencing over the last hope you just lost? I will tell you friend, this is what life looks like without Jesus.
I have been pondering a lot lately, about what Jesus did for me. On the cross.
SO many people of His day were so hostile towards Him. He spoke of truth, morality, and how man fits into it, and basically, the people of His day and age did not like being told that they were "not good enough" by following a law to enter into eternal life. They were not OK with the idea that they needed someone to save them, and that perhaps their self-induced righteousness was not good enough for the gates of heaven. This was offensive to them.
Today we are really not that much different I would say.
We are a "do it yourself" (with a little help) type of culture, and the fact that someone would have the audacity to say that we were not capable of doing a good will life on our own, is offensive to us.
But Jesus came for one reason only: To save you.
He came so that you could have life. He came so that you would not have to worry about measuring up, being good enough or worrying if when you died, where you might go....
Some people have said, "When I die, i'm going in the ground...and I'm OK with that." But friend, if the ground is where you go, then what purpose is your life right now? To make a name for yourself with a small crowd? Or perhaps if your lucky you die a hero, which is why you see Muslim terrorists blowing themselves up for the sake of their God... But even if you die a "hero" you are still dead, and your heroic name will maybe be repeated once or twice...is that affirming to you? It's not to me.
I long for more. I long for more to hope in. More promise then that. More. And the only person who ever offered me more, was Jesus. In His word, He told me He came to give me abundant life. Abundant screams more to me. It shows me that my thinking and longing for something more to hope in, is warranted. It's good to have faith and hope. But we ought to make sure that what we are putting our hope in, is reliable. If it's not, were just toast at the end. We all deep inside of us want a purpose, and we want validation that we are important. Well you know who makes me important? Jesus. I don't need to make a name for myself in this world, because I know that in Jesus, I am all I have ever longed to be. Through Christ, I am really something, and it's not what you think. IN Christ, I am a child of KING. In Christ, I am told that I can do all things. In Christ I am more than a conqueror. And In Christ, I am safe...saved...and held, not to mention I have reason for eternal hope. And the most amazing part of it all is that He didn't owe me a thing, but He gave me it all. Without Christ I am nothing. Without God's plan to send His son into the world to DIE for ME, I would be left dead in my sins. Dead in sinful state. We are all sinful. We all do something bad at least once in life, and according to God standards, we have to be perfect if we are going to make it into heaven on our own. So if you can be absolutely perfect and never ever, not once, not even once do one bad thing, then you should be fine.
But as for me, I realize i'm way passed that option. I knew I needed something else. Even though everything in me cried, "it's against my nature to let someone help me much less SAVE me.." I knew Jesus was my only option to have something worth living for. And then, my friends, once I took that step I realized something else, it goes so much deeper than just being saved. Now I have life, and I have a reason for each day. You know, a reason that goes beyond myself. A reason that runs deeper than ",making it through the day."
Jesus came, He loved us, He died for us, He saved us, and He made a way for us.
People of His day had a hard time accepting His gift. It wasn't free though, it cost Jesus His life. His very human life. And He went through agony for me. So I could be saved. He saved me before I loved Him. That is what really gets me. He died for me while I was rejecting Him.
But that is the kind of Savior He is.
Do you know this Savior that I speak of? If not, will you open a Bible, turn to the book of John and start getting to know Him?
It's a journey worth embarking on.