Have you ever heard people say they think they'll go to heaven because they're basically a good person? How do they define this "good?" Is there a scale that at some point tips one way or the other determining in or out? What if not everyone agreed that the person were basically good?
There can be a tendency to compare oneself to others and think "well, at
least I'm not as bad as her" or "I help people a lot and that should
weigh out anything bad I've done." There's a fallacy in this though; all
sin separates us from God.
There are numerous passages that speak to this a few of which are: James 2:10 "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." Romans 3:10 "There is no one righteous, not even one." Ephesians 2: 8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." Romans 3:23 "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Think of your life as being a glass of water that you offer to God. If you put a booger in the water He's probably not going to drink it. Same story if other gross or disgusting things get in it. Sin equates to boogers and while a booger may not be the grossest thing that could be put in a glass of water, it makes it undrinkable.
This is how our own righteousness works, if in even one area we fall short, it keeps us eternally out of relationship with God. Put yourself in His shoes, would you want to be friends with someone who puts boogers in your drink?
Thankfully that's not the end of the story. Run the water through a filter and it becomes pure and drinkable again. This is where Jesus steps in. He filters out all the boogers and gross stuff and enables us to have eternal communion with God.
If there are boogers in your life that you need to get cleaned up, talk with Jesus about it, He's got a great filtering service.
It strikes me that this post may appeal to those working in middle or high school ministry so feel free to pass it along if it hits a chord. ;-)
Thursday, June 20, 2013
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