First John specifically warns against deluding yourself and claiming that you are not guilty. But those who admit their guilt can be confident that they will partake of the atonement that Christ brought about through His death on the cross (1 John 1:7-2:2).
In this part of the "Secret of Giving" series I would like to deal with "bringing".
As humans, we have a habit, almost always, of seeing the shortcomings of others. We see the splinter in the eyes of others, but we tend to overlook the log that is in our own eyes.
And so it is with guilt and sins. There is always something that can be found in the other. And we're happy to put our finger on that. However, we keep our own transgressions covered.
There are only a few days left until the memorial of Jesus' crucifixion. But we want to keep in mind why this had to happen.
Jesus went to the cross for the guilt, the sins, of the people. For my fault and for yours. Jesus took it upon himself to vicariously atone for our sins. To enable us to come to God free from sin. But he not only broke the power of sin, through his resurrection he also conquered death, eternal death. And only then did he make eternal life, life after death, possible.
Yet, as imperfect humans, we continue to have sin in our lives. And through his death it is possible to bring them back to God again and again. It is important to understand that it is necessary to confess our sins, our guilt, again and again before God in prayer, to bring (give) them to God. To break the power that sin has.
But it is important to understand that only those people who accept Jesus as their Savior in a conscious act (decision) have eternal life. And more importantly, to realize that EVERYONE is welcome to God. No crime is big enough to keep God from accepting you. Normally we have to pay a lot to get something valuable, but with God it is different. We give our sinful life and receive in return an indescribably valuable gift. Because HE has already paid the price for us.
So let's use the last days before the memorial day of his crucifixion to admit our guilt before God.
And if you haven't already taken that step of accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior and Redeemer, you can do so at any time. God is gracious and merciful and is happy about every person who comes to him. But you have to want it. It doesn't happen automatically.
A simple prayer is enough to ask God to come into your life.
While writing my post, I was filled with this song:
Lord I lift your name on high
Lord I lift Your name on high
Lord I love to sing Your praises
I'm so glad you're in my life
I'm so glad you came to save us
You came from heaven to earth to show the way
From the earth to the cross, my debt to pay
From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky
Lord I lift Your name on high
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