Feb 28 2008
Thursday February 28, 2008
Reading for today: Genesis 17:23-27, Matthew 19:13-30
And behold, one came and said unto Jesus, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do to have eternal life.” Matthew 19:16
Jesus responded by saying, there is none good, but one: God. Do we think our assurance of eternal life is by doing good things? Eternal life cannot be earned by works. Jesus has already prepared the way for eternal life; surrender your life to Him.
What really struck me about the passage is the fact that you can’t get to heaven no matter how hard you try. It is impossilbe. Only through the Lord can you enter in. “With God nothing is impossible.” I love that He is the one who does the work. All we have to do is believe! What an awsome truth!! Praise be to the Lord!!
I wonder how anyone can get comfort trying to follow the understanding that their “good deeds” can outweigh their “bad deeds” by enough of a margin to get them into heaven. Where’s the exact scoreboard so one can make sure their deeds are in order…
What if you wake up one morning and see the scores are virtually tied and then you have a horrible commute into work where everyone is cutting you off and blowing through red lights, at work your boss is driving you too hard and major problems are being blamed on you, and then you burn the dinner as you try to pay the bills, do the laundry, make the phone calls, run after the kids, and then wham! You have a heart attack and die. But wait! You were so frustrated all day and blew your temper many times, saying or doing or thinking things that were sinful. Now the board is heavy on the “bad deeds” side and you didn’t have a chance to score some “good deeds”?
Way too risky a system! Why not follow the easy way Jesus told us about? He’s the Way, the Truth and the Life. Follow Him! He’s already done the one good thing that can get us eternal life, and His nail pierced hands & feet bear the scars to show us how big a “deed” needed to be done.
All of our experience as people on this earth tells us that good deeds are rewarded, bad deeds are punished, and that good deeds can offset bad ones. A child can get angry and throw their bowl of cereal on the floor, but a sincere apology and helping clean up the mess takes care of it.
The corruption of sin in our spirits is unseen, we can only perceive the effects, not the reality, of sin against God. The spiritual world is not within our direct experience.
By faith, we accept God’s word as true. Only then do we directly experience His spirit.
- Matt