I just had the most chilling dream. It forced me to get up earlier than I would
have. I was sharing the gospel of Jesus
Christ with someone. I laid it all out;
everyone is a sinner. We can’t erase or
cover our sins with good works. In
fact, in this context, those good works are only dirty rags in God’s sight
(Isaiah 64:6). We continued to
talk. I got to the point of decision and
asked, “What are you going to do?” In
short, I was rejected, just for sharing what the Bible says. And it made my heart ache so much that I woke up.
How could a loving God send someone to Hell? Have you ever heard that question, or even asked
it yourself? The truth is God doesn’t
send anyone to Hell. It’s directly tied
to our choice with what we are going to do with Jesus Christ. C.S. Lewis once wrote that there are only two
kinds of people in the world: those who say to God “Thy will be done”; and
those to whom God says in the end, “Thy will be done.” God gives us the choice. If a person rejects Him, He respects that choice. Even if it was in a dream, I just experienced
a small sampling of how God must feel regarding this rejection; it hurts Him. It breaks His heart in a deep way.
Jesus paid the penalty of humanity’s sin on the cross of
Calvary over 2000 years ago. Friendship
and fellowship is now available to all of mankind, but He doesn’t force Himself
on us. He simply says, “I have a free
gift for you: the free gift of forgiveness and reconciliation with God; are you
going to take it?”
Yesterday, I heard a DJ from a Christian radio station
declare that you will never truly enjoy Christmas if you don’t look to Jesus,
and understand that He is God’s greatest gift to you. I said aloud to myself, “That’s a provocative
statement.” And so it is. But what are the alternatives? Christmas would just be a day where you
exchange gifts. Perhaps you would feel
sadness at the lack of gifts compared to last year. This kind of Christmas wouldn’t satisfy, how
could it? I plead with you, my beloved
reader, don’t miss the real meaning of Christmas. Don’t miss Jesus. Don’t reject Jesus and His offer.
Kevin
