It's Never Too Late!

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Luke 23:39-43

Jesus hung on the cross, naked, and suffering, for six hours. Six hours of agony compounded by the flogging and all the beatings that came before it. But even then Jesus wasn’t allowed to suffer in peace. People gathered to revel in His misery. The chief priests and teachers of the law came by to admire their handiwork, to gloat in their victory, and dance on His grave. They insulted and mocked Him. The soldiers likewise mocked Him and gambled for His clothes. The crowds of people that passed by spewed hate at Him. Even, one of the other criminals being crucified with Him hurled insults at Jesus. But there was one man there who looked at Jesus and saw Him for what He really was.

One of the robbers who hung beside Jesus looked over at Jesus, broken and bloody on the cross, and saw His Messiah. This man acknowledged his sin. He said, “I deserve what I am getting.” And he believed in Jesus. He said, “this man has done nothing wrong.” And he confessed him as lord, as king. He said, “remember me when you come into your kingdom.” This criminal, in the midst of his own execution, has to be perhaps the least likely convert in all of Scripture. But what does Jesus say to him? “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

This story proves once and for all that NO ONE is beyond hope. Maybe you thought it was too late for you to ask for forgiveness. Maybe you thought you had nothing to offer. Maybe you thought you were too far gone. Scripture records this man’s deathbed conversion as a testimony to the fact that it’s never too late! That no man is ever too bad! That there is no such thing as being too far gone for God’s grace. 

And we find this truth presented not only here but all throughout the pages of Scripture. Rahab was a prostitute whose people had been marked for death by God, but because of her faith she not only became a child of God but an ancestor of Jesus as well. Gomer was a prostitute who became the wife of a prophet. Saul was a murderer, a persecutor of Christians. He became an apostle, church planter, and biblical author. I could go on. I could tell you about how David was an adulterer and a murderer. Or how Abraham was a coward and a liar. I could tell you about the church in Corinth and how it was full of people who had been idol worshippers and criminals and addicts. Yet God changed them all.

You are NOT too far gone for Jesus to save! It is NOT too late! You haven’t done anything so bad that God can’t forgive you! Just like the robber on the cross, right up to the moment of your death you can be saved! You can acknowledge your sin, believe in Jesus, and confess Him as your King. Do that today, and God will forgive you.

A Fitting End to a Holy Life

And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered. At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

Mark 6:23-25

I have always found it difficult to read the story of John the Baptist's death in Scripture. It seemed to me that so great a man deserved a better death than this. To be murdered so contemptibly not because he had done anything wrong but because of the wounded pride of a powerful woman and because of the pretentious pride of a king who wasn't really a king at all (Herod Antipas was actually a tetrarch not a king) felt like too much to me. I wondered why. Why did God allow His faithful a servant to meet such a disgraceful end?

But this week, as I read this story again, God reminded me of a passage from Romans 8:35-37.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

This passage says that God has left all believers like sheep to be slaughtered. We need to know that. We need to accept the fact that God allowed John the Baptist to be killed this way. He allowed His Son to be publicly disgraced and killed. And He has allowed many other faithful servants to seal their testimony with their blood as well. We need to understand that God's children are often left at the mercy of this world. There is no sugar-coating that.

BUT...God turns our suffering and even our death into victory! The passage says that "in all these things we are more than conquerors!" When we suffer or even die for the truth of God's Word or the gospel of His Son, we show the world and the Enemy who rules over it that we will not be moved. There is a certain type of victory for the Christian in staying true to the end and refusing to give way to the Enemy.

So, what I learned was that while John's death was a tragedy, it was also a victory. In a way it was the most fitting end to John's powerful life on earth. He was put to death for speaking the truth of God's Word. He told Herod that it was against God's law for him to marry his brother's ex-wife (Mark 6:18-19). He died because he wouldn't back down from the truth. What could be a more fitting end for John the Baptist than that?   

The Enemy, and the world that follows him, still hate truth just as much today as they did then. What price are you willing to pay to speak the truth in the face of opposition? Will you back down, or will you stand your ground to the end? 

For further reading...

• Mark 6:14-29- Read the whole story.
• Romans 8:31-39- A little more context.

Cling Closely, Bring Glory (W.o.W. Rewind)

Do you have any clothes that are especially expensive or just for special occasions? Chances are that when you wear them you feel better about yourself. They add a little pep to your step. But have you ever gotten a huge stain on clothes like that. When something that fine gets ruined, it looks so much worse than when you get a stain on a regular old pair of jeans. The stain stands out so much more on something so nice.

God commanded the prophet Jeremiah to act out a metaphor very much like this for His people in Jeremiah chapter thirteen. God told Jeremiah buy a fine linen belt to wear. Then He told him to go to the river and hide it in the cleft of a rock. Only many days later did the Lord tell Jeremiah to go retrieve it. Of course it was ruined, wet and muddy. Useless! In verses nine and ten God reveals the significance of this act.

This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless!

Jeremiah's ruined belt represents the pride of Judah which God promised to ruin. God promised to bring judgment on His people because of their idolatry and stubborn refusal to repent. Then, in verse eleven, God pushes the symbolism further saying,

'For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’

God says that the ruined belt also symbolizes how His people have ruined His glory. God's people were supposed to cling to Him like a beautiful belt that always stayed close and brought added glory by virtue of their fine quality. Instead, because of their sin and unfaithfulness to God, Israel and Judah had become defiled and had failed to glorify God. Now they were like a soiled belt wrapped around His waist. As God's people they bear His name and they drag it along with them into their sin.

It's heartbreaking to think that God's people would so callously besmirch God's name. Yet, how often do we do the same? We call ourselves Christians, then we unabashedly and publicly watch movies and TV shows we know Christ never would. We go to church and we attack and viciously tear down our leaders and other believers in ways that are out of step with Christ's love for His church. We engage in our secret sins, thinking that no one sees, but God does.

Father, help us to live as your people in this world. Help us to cling tightly to you, to always stay close to you and to live in a way that increases your fame, your glory, and your praise. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Infantile Thinking

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 5:12-14

There are some Christians in our day who push back on the spiritual disciplines as being too legalistic for their liking. They actually scoff at the idea of reading their Bible every day, or memorizing Scripture, or fasting, or putting great effort into studying Scripture. When they think of such discipline all they see is Pharisaic attempts to earn God's favor. But this is folly!

It is true that any good deed can become a striving after legalism, but surely that does not mean that Christians should no longer commit good deeds! No! We are called to produce good fruit for the kingdom of God. We can't refuse to bring in the harvest now just because there is a possibility of doing so in a wrong way. That would be absurd! Instead, we should continue to bring in the harvest while being extra careful to do so rightly.

The same is true with spiritual disciplines. Just because it is possible to read your Bible daily and not really know God, doesn't mean we should stop reading our Bibles. Just because it is possible to fast and pray only to convince yourself that you are better than others, doesn't mean that we should no longer seek God's help in the manner He has prescribed for us. No! 

Hebrews 5:14 says, "Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." Maturity in the Christian faith comes from constant use and training. It is wholly by God's grace, but it often encompasses and utilizes our efforts as His means. Be careful not to give in to legalism. Don't practice the spiritual disciplines to prove your worth. But DO practice the spiritual disciplines! Because they are the means God has given us to grow in our faith. So be careful to set aside time to read your Bible, study your Bible, memorize and meditate on God's Word, fast and pray, share your faith, serve the church, give sacrificially and everything else that is proclaimed to be good and right in God's Word. Work hard at growing in your faith. Watch out for legalism, yes, but guard against laziness and stunted growth just as fervently. Let us no longer be infants but grow in our walk with the Lord!

Choking

Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Mark 4:18-19

Some think this passage speaks about unsaved people, but I disagree. I believe that this piece of the Parable of the Sower speaks of believers who prove to be tragically unproductive in their faith. In fact, I fear that this may even be true of a majority of believers today. We should read this passage then as a solemn warning that if we are not careful our faith in Jesus will amount to nothing. 

The passage points out three things we ought to be especially careful to avoid. Three things that rob the Christian of his fruitfulness in the Lord: the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and desires for other things. Let's look at each briefly.

Have you ever considered that the worries of life, both big and small, might be distracting you from more important, eternal matters? Wouldn't it be a shame to get to Heaven only to realize that you never really lived for God because you were too busy fussing over earthly things of no eternal worth. What a shame it would be to squander your chance to store up treasure in Heaven because you were living instead for dirty laundry, accounts payable, sporting events, new cars, politics, and entertainment. Ruthlessly prioritize your life according to what matters most!

There is perhaps no greater or more effective deception in our world today than the lie that money will make you happy. We all claim to know this is a lie, but deep down inside most of us still believe that a little more money would somehow make us happy. It won't! Money won't solve your problems, and it won't fulfill you. Beware the love of money! Satan is skilled at using money to wage war against our souls. Both rich and poor alike must work hard to avoid being deceived by the lure of money. One of the best ways I have found to combat this is to regularly give my money to the Lord. This serves as a constant test and reminder of which one I love more. Sacrificial giving keeps love of money in check. 

Lastly, Jesus warns us that our desires can choke our fruitfulness. Luke's version of this parable refers to these desires as "the pleasures of life." We get used to having certain pleasures or comforts, don't we? I can say for certain that I tend to want life to become easier and more comfortable as I age.  If I'm not careful I quickly begin to see something that was once a nicety as a necessity in my life. Satan has plenty of shiny bobbles and trinkets to distract us with in this world. Be careful that you don't fall prey to a sales trick. Don't chase pleasure, chase the LORD!

Take a moment to walk through the fields of your life and check on your harvest. Is the bounty coming in or are there thorny weeds that you need to pull?