image courtesy of abcdz2000/sxc.hu
I couldn’t believe what I had done.
After receiving Christ as a child, walking away, and finally being called back to him in my twenties, I had made a huge mistake. I was sure it was unforgivable. I thought because of my mistake, I was no longer good enough for God.
I repeated what I believed to a friend one day.
He immediately asked, “Where’s your Bible?”
I found it and he directed me to Romans 3:23. It took me a while to locate the book, let alone the passage, but my friend waited patiently.
When I found it he said, “Now read it out loud.”
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
My friend explained that salvation is a free gift of God, that everyone has sinned, and Jesus took that sin on the cross (Isaiah 53:5). When we sin, we need to confess that sin and receive the Lord’s forgiveness (1 John 1:9), but we don’t have to clean ourselves up first; the only thing required is to believe that Jesus came to save us from our sins (John 3:15-17).
Come, just as you are, and Jesus will do the cleaning up as we read his word and seek His presence through worship and prayer. He is not offended by you; He is not put off by your brokenness, your addictions, or the huge mistakes you’ve made. Come and sit at the feet of Jesus and receive from Him.
Pray with me:
Jesus, I come to you now. I open my heart to you, and I pray that you would heal my wounds and clean me up from the inside out. I receive your gift of eternal life and ask you to lead me in your ways here on this earth. In Jesus name, Amen.
Just the other day I stood in the empty sanctuary of my church, early in the morning, with tears in my eyes. Once again I stood – just too tired to kneel – and said, “I’m sorry, I did it again.” But, unlike so many times before, I felt the Spirit tell me, “I know you are, but you’re already forgiven.” I didn’t feel forgiven; I felt as guilty as sin, ashamed, dirty. “You’re forgiven,” God said. But I didn’t feel I had done anything to deserve to be forgiven; not yet, at least. I heard the Spirit say to me in a still, small voice, “You don’t deserve it, and that’s why it’s called GRACE.”
So, against my emotions, against my feelings, I stood there, not alone, praising my Savior for forgiving a wretch like me. Grace is not a license to sin, but what gives us the ability, when properly understood, to not want to sin. What a gift! My sins were what cost Jesus His life, but He paid for them willingly – because He loved me. Now I must praise Him for the forgiveness I don’t deserve, but He freely gives. I am nothing, but He is everything. I don’t have anything to claim, only to the cross I cling.
OH! What a Savior!
This is so beautiful. How great our Savior is. God bless you.