Animals with wings cannot fly to heaven and rich
people cannot buy their way into heaven’s gates. Jesus is the only way for He
says:
John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me. No man can come onto the
father but through me.”
The sweet thing is Jesus won’t give you wings so
you can try to fly to heaven, nor will He give you money so you can try to buy
righteousness. Instead He gave you His own blood, His very life. You don’t have
to die for your sins because Jesus already did. Many people on earth may tell
you they love you to death, but Jesus is the only one who literally loved you
to death. With every nail in his hands and feet He loved you. With every thorn
launched in His head He loved you. He will always love you. Turn away from the
slavery of sin and experience the amazing borderless love that can only come
from Jesus Christ. Being a follower of Jesus is not about perfection, but about
love. Jesus said:
Mark 2:17: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but
the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
It’s not about condemnation either for Jesus says
to people who condemn and judge:
Matthew 7:1-3 “Do not judge, or you too will
be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with
the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck
of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own
eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’
when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take
the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the
speck from your brother’s eye.”
It’s about LOVE. God doesn’t just love. God is
love. We serve a God who throws a party in heaven every time one of his lost
children comes back to Him.
Luke 15:11-31: There was a man who had two
sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the
estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the
younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there
squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was
a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went
and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields
to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were
eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said,
‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am
starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him:
Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to
be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and
went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him
and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms
around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against
heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the
father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put
a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill
it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is
alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. “Meanwhile,
the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and
dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.
‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened
calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “The older brother became angry
and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he
answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never
disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could
celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your
property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
“ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is
yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead
and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”
We serve a God who will leave a herd of sheep to
go after that one lost sheep.
Luke 15:1-7
Now the tax collectors and sinners
were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep
and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and
go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he
joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends
and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I
tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one
sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to
repent.
No matter what you have done, or what you have
said, God is fighting to win your heart everyday. Every time you feel a gentle
breeze on your face, God is pouring out His glory on you. God will literally
get off of His throne to rescue you. There are so many times when you could
have lost your life, but God protected you. He shielded you from satan. God is
your father and you are His child.
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