I'm Just Saying

May 9, 2011

I was listening to a song the other day and these words pierced my heart and convicted my spirit:

"Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree And took the nails for me"

You know, we are all taught that Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, suffered, was crucified, died, was buried, and on the third day, rose from the dead, and is seating at the right hand of our Father. He died so our sins would be forgiven. Most of us accept it as truth. But, all too often, we give IT little more thought than when we open the water spigot to let the water out. We turn the handle, water comes out, we turn it off. The End.

Listen, HE died because of MY sin. And YOUR sin. What does it mean when we continue to sin, especially knowingly? Isn't it a "slap in the face" to our Lord Jesus Christ? " * Oh, I'll just have a few drinks. * Oh, well, just a little white lie. * He made me mad, so he deserved more than to be cursed a little bit.  * Oops, I forgot to pay for such & such- oh well, they get enough of my money. * She blah blah blah blah blah....." 

We will not be able claim ignorance when we stand before the Judgement Seat of the Father. Our lips will be unable to lie and our sin unable to hide. Jesus died because of those few drinks, that lie, the angry and rude behavior you think someone else deserves. And. We. Keep. Doing. The. Same. Things. Over. Again. We spit in the face of Jesus as He hangs dying on a cross with our selfish ways of thinking. Our lives are really not our own. We owe our very breath to Christ!

Think about this: If we lived in a culture where your sin were punished by hanging you on a tree with nails driven through your feet and hands, wouldn't it cause you pause before action? I suspect we'd all think twice before any wrong-doing, real or perceived. We'd carefully weigh the perception of our actions and the consequences of our anger and our desires against any temporary benefit of "satisfaction". So, I ask you, what's the difference? You hanging on a tree, or Jesus? He loved us so much that He hung there. He took the nails for me. But, it was our own sin that put Him there. I am so grateful that I don't have to pay for my sin. But, I need to remember that it was a REAL debt, paid with REAL blood, on a REAL cross, by a very REAL man!  

I'm just saying.

"Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them. So that we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being,. How differently I think about Him now! What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun." 2Corinthians 5:14-17