I don’t think this will be news to you, but this weekend is
when Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection are celebrated in many parts of the
world. In reality, those of us who try
to live our lives connected to God’s love through Jesus celebrate those events
every day! But there is something
special about a weekend when you know people all over the planet are
remembering and celebrating too….
Ever since I was little I have felt that in certain ways I
was seeing the world in color while many of my friends were only seeing in
black and white. Why? Because most times when I’d try to share with
them about God’s love in my life, I’d get blank stares, confusion, sometimes
teasing, and a few times criticism and opposition. There have been other occasions when a really
good conversation resulted as the other person showed genuine interest and
curiosity. But many times it has been
hard to try to explain something that is as essential to me as the air I
breathe, something that to me is so beautiful and real and full of color and
hope, but that for the most part others seem to only be able to see my words as
a faded black and white image way off in the distance somewhere, perhaps
interesting but usually not applicable to them.
So to those friends (you know who you are), this post is for
you and comes from the depths of my heart:
God is real. His
truth is real. His love is real. The sins that I have committed are real and
ugly. And the sins that you have committed
are real and ugly too. Perhaps to you
they don’t seem as ugly as what others have done. You know you’re not perfect, but you’ve never
done anything as bad as those people that choose to be bad. But, the reality is that even a tiny drop of
black paint ruins a glass of water. And
unless the glass of water that is your life is perfectly pure, you cannot be
with God. It doesn’t matter if your
discolored water is lighter or darker, less or more stained, than anyone else’s
around you. All that matters is that
it’s not pure. And no one’s is. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God.” That includes you. Plain and simple.
But your deepest need (even if it’s subconscious) and what
you were created for, is to be with God, to love Him and receive His love. So without Him there will always be a void
you cannot fill no matter how you succeed in your studies, in your job, in your
relationships, in your family, with your spouse, with your children, in
protecting the Earth, in being a good neighbor, a good citizen, a good friend… You are lost, and in the deep, silent times
you probably know it even if you try to avoid it. The things you’ve done that you shouldn’t
have come back to haunt you and you wish that there was a way to erase past
mistakes. You’ve tried to buy into
different ideologies that tell you, for example, that you can make up for past
and present mistakes with future good deeds, or that past sins aren’t really
that bad but instead are only lessons to be learned from, or that absolutes
like good and evil don’t really exist, or any other number of belief systems. But deep down you’re not sure if any of those
really work. Because something’s still
missing: it’s never enough.
Many of you have known me for a long time and/or have known
my husband and me for a few years.
You’ve noticed that we’re different in the way we live our lives, treat
each other as a couple, raise our kids, make decisions, spend our time.... We talk about things that are different from
what you’re used to hearing and do things differently than many others that you
know. And you’ve commented on how you
admire me or us as a couple, how you think it’s great that I or we do
such-and-such. Some of you have even
said that you want to do things like us in certain areas of your lives.
I am glad you notice those things and really appreciate the
compliments. But, the reason why we are
the way we are and why we do what we do isn’t because my husband and I are
great, amazing people. No, it’s only because
God is great and amazing, and He changes people. God’s love & truth transform us
daily. He changes how we see the world,
how we do things, how we treat people...
And He will continue changing us, because we still have a long ways to
go. It’s not something we can do on our
own: It is only possible through the
forgiveness that Jesus’ death offers us and the new life & hope that His
resurrection brings.
These events that we celebrate this weekend aren’t simply
fantasy, or a feel-good story, or a moral lesson, or a moving tradition, or
even just a page out of a history book: They are authentic, vivid accounts of real, transforming
moments for humanity. They bring us
face-to-face with the ugliness of sin, the pain of separation from God, the
justice of God (“the wages of sin is death” so someone had to die for my sins),
and ultimately the Love of God through the price paid by Jesus. And that’s not just for my husband and me or
our extended family; it applies to every person on the earth: past, present and
future. Because Jesus said, “I am the
way, the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through Me.”
I know that many use the excuse that you’ve known lots of
hypocrites, people who do terrible things in the name of God, people who say
they follow Jesus but then live selfish lives without compassion for
others. So maybe you don’t really want
to believe in the God of the Bible; you’d rather reject God or just accept the
parts of the Bible that you like rather than accepting the whole thing as truth
including the parts that say that you need a savior and that Jesus is the only
one who can truly save. You reject Him because
those religious people are just so hypocritical. Yes, it does sadden and many times even anger
me that there are hypocritical, manipulative people like those that we’ve all
seen or heard of. But really, that is
only proof that human beings need help; it is no proof against God’s amazing Love
& unchanging Truth.
The same God that shines His love and truth down on me
shines them down on you too. God doesn’t change; the only difference at this
point is the response of each one of us.
A wise man, Charles Spurgeon, once said, “The same sun which melts wax,
hardens clay. And the same gospel (the good news about what Jesus did) which
melts some persons to repentance hardens others in their sins.”
The truth about God’s righteousness and love does not leave
us indifferent. It either hardens our
hearts or softens our hearts toward Him, depending on what we are made of. Will you continue to mask the truth of your
need of Him, hardened by your pride, self-sufficiency, self-righteousness or attempted
indifference on the subject? Or will you
soften your heart, honestly and humbly accepting His love and forgiveness, and
finding the freedom that only God can give when there is true repentance?
Whatever your answer is, my friendship and care for you won’t
change; I will NEVER close the door! But
between you and God, it is very, very important that you sincerely consider
this, and I would say it is the most important decision you will make in your
whole life.
My friend, this Good Friday we remember the ultimate
sacrifice of love in history: “God demonstrated His love for us in this: that
while we were still sinners (and because of that, his enemies), Christ died for
us.” So, my question for you is, with
such amazing, unconditional love shining down on you:
Are you wax or clay?
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