But, in His mercy, He has helped me remember the main theme…
I was in prison, surrounded by criminals, murderers. But I didn't feel fear. I felt like I also belonged there, with them.
This past Wednesday we had an issue in our house. No, that’s not any different than any other day. But this Wednesday our 4-year-old boys were telling my wife that they hated her, which was tearing her apart. She was holding it together on the outside, being loving, but still sticking with the discipline that was required at that time. She left me a voice mail asking for help. I was at work, no way to assert my dominant fatherly influence to protect my wife. I assured her that the boys didn't know what they were saying. (I was also considering monitoring more closely who they play with.) But how could I fix this?
The verse used in my daily devotion that day was Deuteronomy 11:18-19.
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
I quickly compiled the following verses and sent them to my wife so she could use them to teach the boys (and girls):
Proverbs 12:1, Proverbs 13:24, 1 John 3:15, Matthew 5:22, Psalm 34:13, Psalm 120:2-4, Proverbs 21:23, 1 John 4:7-21, Matthew 13:42, Matthew 24:51, Matthew 22:13, Luke 13:28, James 3:10
Guess what? God’s word worked!
The boys stopped verbally abusing my wife. I reviewed with the boys that night what they had learned today. The first response we got was, “Killing someone is the same as murder.“ Closely followed by, “Don’t be stupid.” Of course they remembered the passage that says the word “stupid.” Anyway, they did learn not to hate people (or even say that you do), because God created us to love all people. I guess the passage that really got me, and it was the first one that came into my head, was First John 3:15.
Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
We are all murderers. We all do wrong, and whoever stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking all of God’s law. God demands perfection, and we don’t have it. From my pastor to the imprisoned criminal, we all have the same problem. We are murderers.
But why am I so happy? Why did I wake up from my dream with good news to tell? Because God’s grace is HUGE! I realized in my dream that I was a murderer, but Murderer was not my label. That’s not who I am now. I am above it. I am free to leave the prison. I am declared “not guilty.” I am free. God is glad to see me. He even meets me in prison, and leads me out. He welcomes me, even celebrates me. He takes me from death row and gives me life in the name of His son, my brother, Jesus.
I look back, think back to the other prisoners. Do they know? Do they know God has forgiven them? Do they know they don’t have to pay for what they've done? Do they know that I was the same as them? Do they know that God is begging for them to come out of their self-made prisons? Do they know they don’t have to be there?
That’s why I woke up happy. That’s why I am here. To share what God has done in my life. To share the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for my sins, for your sins, for their sins. There are no exclusions. There are no requirements. There is peace.
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” -Romans 10
No comments :
Post a Comment