CHRISTMAS IS ABOUT RESCUE

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23 NLT)

This is what we need to be rescued from -- from the decision each of us have made, and continue to make, to ask Jesus to leave so that we can be the captain of our own soul and the ruler of our own life -- the attitude the Bible calls sin. We need to be rescued from the consequences of our decision.

When you realize this, the first Christmas comes to life, because when you realize this, you read these lines and you feel a deep hope and a dawning of joy: “You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”  (Matthew 1:21)

The divine Shepherd-Ruler came. The Magi were right to give Him gold. He showed glimmers of His kingdom and He invited people to join Him and enjoy Him. But He did more than that. He came not just to rule, but to rescue. He came to rescue you from your sin and its consequences.

Christmas is about rescue. It’s a rescue that you and I desperately need, and can wonderfully have. 

-- Carl Laferton in “Rescuing Christmas: The Search for Joy that Lasts”

#6004

MISSING GOD’S PURPOSE

You don't have to understand all the implications of your decision when you choose to follow Jesus. You simply need to respond to His invitation, to make a commitment to follow Christ.

Your commitments shape your life more than anything else. Your commitments can develop you or they can destroy you, but either way, they will define you. Tell me what you're committed to and I'll tell you what you'll be in twenty years. We become whatever we're committed to.

It is at this very point of commitment that most people miss God's purpose for their lives. Many are afraid to commit to anything and just drift through life. Others make half-hearted commitments to competing values, which lead to frustration and mediocrity. Others make a full commitment to worldly goals, such as becoming wealthy or famous, and end up disappointed and bitter.

Every choice has eternal consequences so you need to choose wisely: "Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living!" (2 Peter 3:11 LB).

Christ-likeness comes from making Christ-like commitments.  

-- Rick Warren in “The Purpose Drive Life Daily Devotional”

#5854

THE GOAL OF FORGIVENESS

In December of 1997, fourteen-year-old Michael Carneal walked into the lobby of his high school in Paducah, Kentucky, and began shooting at a group of teenagers who had gathered early to pray. He killed three of those classmates and wounded four.

A day or two later, some students there did something they thought Jesus wanted them to do. With the national spotlight on them, they made up a sign that said, “Michael, we forgive you.”

Yes, Jesus tells us to forgive, but at that point, Michael wasn’t asking for anybody’s forgiveness. Offering him mercy did not help. Of course, those students would eventually need to let go of the hate and bitterness in their hearts, but extending mercy so quickly to one who had not asked for it, who had not repented, who had done something so terrible was surely not what Jesus had in mind. In fact, their actions could well have stopped the redemption process. Michael needed to come to terms with the terrible weight of what he had done. He needed to feel the horror of it, to confess and be changed because of it. Once that happened, it might have been appropriate to show mercy to him, although even mercy would not have waived the consequences of such an act.

Offering mercy before a person understands the need for it can diminish the gravity of the act. It gets in the way of the true goal of forgiveness, which is the redemption of the other person. 

-- Adam Hamilton in “Forgiveness: Finding Peace Through Letting Go” 

#5720

CHOOSING TO WALK WITH JESUS

Choosing life seems like the reasonable thing to do. If given the choice why would anyone not choose life? It seems foolish to choose anything else, to choose anything less than the best. It remains a mystery to me that we often find ourselves choosing what diminishes life and leaves us less than we were before. But we are often unaware of the consequences of our choices until later, sometimes much later.

Jesus always invites us to choose life by forsaking our way of life for His way of life. It is never an easy choice. Choosing to walk with Jesus in a culture that ridicules faithfulness and glorifies violence is to choose a way with cost attached. When you choose to walk with Jesus in a culture that rewards those who take for themselves before thinking about others, you may wind up feeling someone has taken advantage of you. And yet, as the decades pass and we look back, it is clear to see that those who sought advantage by taking advantage have in reality lost life. Those who chose to walk with Jesus in the hard decisions and in the good times have discovered richness to life beyond price. At times it may seem the cost of choosing life is too high, but when you stop and think about it, choosing life is the only reasonable choice to make. 

-- Rueben P. Job in “A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God”

#5460

THE GIFT OF CHOICE

In every age of history, on every page of Scripture, the truth is revealed: God allows us to make our own choices.

And no one delineates that more clearly than Jesus. According to Him, we can choose “a narrow gate or a wide gate… a narrow road or a wide road… the big crowd or the small crowd” (Matthew 7:13-14). We can choose to “build on rock or sand” (Matthew 7:24-27), “serve God or riches” (Matthew 6:24), “be numbered among the sheep or goats” (Matthew 25:32-33).

God gives eternal choices, and these choices have eternal consequences. “Then they [who rejected God] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:46 NIV).

Isn’t this the reminder of Calvary’s trio? Ever wonder why there were two crosses next to Christ? Why not six or ten? Ever wonder why Jesus was in the center? Why not on the far right or far left? Could it be that the two other crosses on the hill symbolize one of God’s greatest gifts? The gift of choice. 

-- Adapted from Max Lucado in “He Chose the Nails”

#5060

A DRINK OF LIVING WATER

Jesus answered [the woman at the well], “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.”  (John  4:10 NIV)

Volumes have been written about the things Jesus said to this woman. In particular, His comments about worshipping in spirit and in truth are considered foundational. But to fully appreciate Jesus’ compassionate understanding, we must give some thought to what He didn’t say. He didn’t enumerate her sins, lecture her for setting a bad example, ask for an explanation, demand an apology, or tell her she was going to Hell if she didn’t shape up. It’s hard to imagine a minister standing face-to-face with the biggest sinner in town -- a woman whose life would have made a great Jerry Springer episode -- and not even broaching the subject of morality, but that’s what Jesus did.

Why?

Because He understood that she’d been hammered enough. Nobody knew better than she did what a mess she’d made of her life. She lived with the consequences of her choices every day and slept with them every night. What she needed was not another rebuke, but a deep, refreshing drink of living water.

-- Mark Atteberry in “Free Refill: Coming Back for More of Jesus"

#4286

THE CUP OF SUFFERING

Jesus ask His disciples, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”  (Matthew 20:22)

Each of our life choices, decisions, and actions involves some consequences. Something will happen because of what we think, say, and do. These consequences may bring gladness, but they also may bring sadness. For example, if we choose to love someone deeply, we must be willing to accept that our heart’s investment may cost us loneliness and heartache. We will be challenged to accept that person’s weaknesses as well as that person’s strengths. We may bear deep sorrow if they die or if they choose to leave us without our consent.

Every investment has a consequence. Those who have children know the gift of those wonderful beings, but they also know the tremendous sacrifices involved. Physicians know the satisfaction of helping a patient heal, but they also pay the price of long, intense hours of work that often infringe on their family life. For myself as a writer, I love the “glory” of seeing words come together, but I must also accept the pain of the writing process -- loneliness, editing, deadlines, and vulnerability. At some time or other, we all have to face the question that Jesus asked His disciples. We ought not to run from the question because it contains within it the seed of spiritual growth.

-- Joyce Rupp in “The Cup of Our Life: A Guide for Spiritual Growth”


#4250

THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN

Sin is a word not often thought about seriously in our time. Neal Plantinga writes, “Nowadays, the accusation you have sinned is often said with a grin, and with a tone that signals an inside joke…” Sin has become a word for hot vacation spots (Las Vegas is Sin City) and dessert menus: “Peanut Butter Binge and Chocolate Challenge are sinful; lying is not. The new measure for sin is calorie.”

But sin is the deadliest force because it takes us out of the flow of the Spirit. Imagine the consequences if we did not have a word for cancer or depression. We must identify and understand that which threatens our ability to flourish, and only sin can keep us from becoming the person God wants us to become. All other challenges face us from the outside. Sin works its way inside, strangling our soul.

-- John Ortberg in The Me I Want to Be

#4055

COSTLY CONSEQUENCES

“While he was living there, Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Jacob soon heard about it.”  (Genesis 35:22 NLT)

Reuben’s sin was costly, although not right away. As the oldest son, he stood to receive a double portion of the family inheritance and a place of leadership among his people. Reuben may have thought he got away with his sin. No more is mentioned of it until Jacob, on his deathbed, assembled his family for the final blessing. Suddenly Jacob took away Reuben’s double portion and gave it to someone else. The reason? “You slept with one of my wives; you dishonored me in my own bed.” (Genesis 49:4)

Sin’s consequences can plague us long after the sin is committed. When we do something wrong, we may think we can escape unnoticed, only to discover later that the sin has been quietly breeding serious consequences.

-- from The Life Application Study Bible

#4014

STRAYING FROM THE PATH

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”  (Isaiah 53:6 NIV)

Human beings have a predisposition, a tendency, to be drawn to do that which is not God’s will. Here I will mention the word sin. The Hebrew and Greek words most frequently translated by the English word sin mean to “stray from the path” or to “miss the mark.” The path is God’s path. The mark is God’s will for humankind. Human beings, even the best of us, have something within us that draws us to stray from the path. This is sometimes called the “sin nature.”

The story of Adam and Eve is illustrative and defining. Adam and Eve know the path God wants them to take -- “Don’t eat the fruit of the tree” -- but they find themselves drawn to examine the fruit. A serpent whispers to them, beckoning them to eat the fruit. They convince themselves that it is beautiful and that God did not really mean for them to miss out on such a lovely fruit. They rationalize sin and then eat of the fruit of the tree and paradise is lost.

What I love about this story is that it is so powerfully captures what happens in my life on nearly a daily basis. I hear the serpent beckoning me to do what I know I should not do or convincing me that it’s okay not to do what I should do. I have to decide each day, often many times in a day, whether I will follow God’s way or the path of the serpent. And when I choose the serpent’s path, inevitably some part of God’s paradise in my life is lost.

-- Adam Hamilton in Why?: Making Sense of God’s Will

#3885

FEEDING SIN

In 1939, a coast guard vessel was cruising the Canadian Arctic when the men spotted a polar bear stranded on an ice floe. It was quite a novelty for the seamen, who threw the bear salami, peanut butter, and chocolate bars. Then they ran out of the food. Unfortunately, the polar bear hadn't run out of appetite, so he proceeded to board their vessel. The men on ship were terrified and opened the fire hoses on the bear. The polar bear loved it and raised his paws in the air to get the water under his armpits. We don't know how they did it, but eventually they forced the polar bear to return to his ice pad -- but not before teaching these seamen a horrifying lesson about feeding polar bears.

Some people make the same mistake with sin that these sailors nearly made with the polar bear. They begin feeding it -- a little at a time without thinking through the consequences. "It says something about our times," writes Willard D. Ferrell, "that we rarely use the word SINFUL except to describe a really good dessert."

-- King Duncan in Collected Sermons

#3748

THE CURRENCY OF SIN

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23 NRSV)

You are free to choose between two masters, but you are not free to adjust the consequences of your choice. Each of the two masters plays with his own kind of currency. The currency of sin is death. That is all you can expect or hope for in life without God. Christ's currency is eternal life -- new life with God that begins on earth and continues forever with God. What choice have you made?

-- Life Application Bible Commentary on Romans


#3180

SOMEBODY'S GONNA FALL

A friend of mine has a unique perspective on temptation. He says there have only been two temptation stories since the beginning of time. The temptation of the first Adam in the Garden led to the fall of man. And the temptation of the second Adam, Jesus Christ, led to Satan's fall. All temptation, he says, will conclude with one or the other. Either we will fall, as Adam fell, or we will stand, as Jesus stood, and see Satan fall.

Temptation is always a shortcut. It's Satan's way of offering you now what God wants to give you later on. What he doesn't tell you is the cost -- and the consequences. 

-- Ron Mehl in Just in Case I Can't Be There


#3072