Jesus is the Reason…

Luke 2:10-14 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest,And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

Good news… of great joy!

John 3:16-19 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son go God. This is the judgement, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light

Good news… of great joy!

1 John 4:15-18 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 

Good news… of great joy!

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” 

Good news… of great joy!

So why do I feel like Lot’s wife… Genesis 19:26 But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Why do I feel frozen? On every side I am bombarded with hopelessness… as a Christian I am condemned as the enemy of all the ills of society because I believe we need Jesus. And on the other side, I am condemned by friendly fire for not boldly and loudly proclaiming that the world is going to hell in a hand basket of sin. I am, so to speak, damned if I do and damned if I don’t. Damned… but not by God. And frozen only when I take my eyes off of Him!

Some say Lot’s wife was wishing to go back to her old life when she looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. That certainly makes sense when we know you can’t move forward until you leave the past behind. However, I like the interpretation that what she was looking back to see was God’s judgement of all “THOSE” people whom she harbored bitterness toward. She did not count herself as blessed to be saved from the destruction but was haughty in her view that SHE and her family were the only ones WORTHY to be saved from the destruction.

I think there are a lot of people… Christians and otherwise… that would qualify for pillar making experts. People on both sides of the line playing tug of war… TUG of WAR… with the world today.

The line… sin… Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God 

I know, I know, we don’t like that word sin. In fact just this word will trigger a firestorm of hate that will be used to bully you into changing the words you use… changing the message you speak… or if all else fails, killing the messenger. But guess what… no matter what one does… truth is truth and does not change. The only one who is fooled into thinking that denial is the ultimate weapon to satisfaction is the one who wants to believe it is. Wrapping something up in different paper &/or boxes does not change what is inside… no matter how many times you tell me I’m blind! I may be blind but what you see is not always what you get.

On the other side of the line of sin, are the people with the stones. John 8:7 He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Remember, this was about a woman CAUGHT in adultery and brought into the center of the court. And remember also that this was a setup to test Jesus so that they might have the grounds to accuse Him of being  a heretic. (Note to self, maybe the tug of war is the test so that they might accuse ME of being a heretic… mmmm)

When I look at both sides of the line in the tug of war, I am frozen. I am much like the pillar of salt… saved from sin but reminded how desperate I became when I realized I was headed for destruction. Isn’t it only right to “tell” those where they are headed? Isn’t it only right to use every means to “make them” listen? Isn’t it only right to “kill” the sinner, I mean sin? Salt pillar or stone killer… which should I be?

This week I have come close to being Lot’s wife… But God spoke to me through His Word,  saying…

Galatians 3:1-3 You foolish Galatians Mary, who has bewitched you? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Good news… of great joy! Jesus is my reason! And I won’t look back I will keep moving forward with my eyes on Him!

We have the wrong line in the sand over which we are playing tug of war. It should not be sin… it should be our Savior! And we don’t have to play tug of war because He loves every one of us!

I could list all the sins spoken of in the Bible (of which I am guilty of every one) and are alive and well in our world today, but why? That is the old news… 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come. 

Nope… I won’t get in a shouting match over sin… I will boldly and loudly proclaim only the good news of great joy! Jesus has come to save!

It is indeed good news of great joy and Jesus IS the reason!!

Are you weary of the tug of war this world is playing? Jesus is calling… Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” 

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB  version of the Bible