Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Too LONG!!!

Wow! It's been way too long since my last update. Here's a quick update for this week and I'll hope to update next week again.
Through the time of the church year known as Lent - we are focusing on what different people from the life of Christ bring to our understanding of Easter - here's one titled "Get out of debt."
Have you found yourself a little strapped this time of year? If so you are definitely not alone. As a matter of fact recent studies have shown that debt and financial troubles have gripped our society with amazing strength.
It’s true – foreclosures and bankruptcies are on the rise. Unwise spending habits have impacted our culture with some devastating results. Many people have a tendency to think that money is a problem and that money is a root of evil in our society. While this statement is false – there is some truth to it.
Money definitely causes people to do some pretty strange things. People’s desire for money is the source of many problems in our society. The Bible reminds us that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. There’s nothing inherently wrong with money – it’s the love of it that causes evil desires and wrong actions.
Jesus was directly impacted by the love of money when one of His disciples, named Judas, was willing to sell Him for 30 pieces of silver. We’re not sure what caused Judas to do this or why 30 pieces of silver was enough, but what we do know is that Judas wanted payment of some sort – he wanted money. He possessed that love for money that the Bible clearly says is the root of every sort of evil.
I always was taught that Judas was such a terrible person. It was alluded that Judas’ actions were “unforgivable.” I’m not sure that’s the case however. Shortly after Jesus was arrested and the trial began – Judas is said to have been filled with remorse. There’s a problem however – he thought that his actions were too big and too bad for God to be able to forgive so he took his own life.
This train of thought is HUGE in our society – many people think that their actions are so much worse than everyone else’s, that God can’t forgive them and that they don’t have any right in church. This thought couldn’t be any further from the truth. A pastor by the name of Rob Bell has stated, “There’s nothing you can do to make God love you any less.” I believe whole heartedly that this statement is true. The bible speaks quite often about God’s undying love for us and how through the death and resurrection of Jesus we are all guaranteed forgiveness if we only ask.
Let us cast our debts on Jesus. He's the only one who can truly get us out of the debt we find ourselves in with regard to the wrong things we do. May you always remember that "There's nothing you can do to make God love you any less."

2 comments:

Village-Block Captain said...

Great Topic. I will expand on my thoughts in a later entry. Welcome back 'Pastor D's Blog.

rustyb8 said...

I think that a lot of people try to use the same line of thinking to "earn" their way to salvation by doing good stuff... or reject Jesus because they think they have to earn their own way. Jesus looked at the guy next to Him on the cross after he repented and said that he would "see ya later" and in Titus 3:5 we read that it is not by what WE do but by what HE did that we are saved. So there is nothing that we can do to make him love us less and nothing we can do to earn heaven without Him.