In the book of Jonah, the prophet tries his best to run from God’s calling to take a message to Nineveh. Not because he doesn’t want to take the message, although that was part of it, but because he wants God’s judgment to fall on them rather than a revival coming to their country. He knows that God is merciful and He will forgive them if they turn from their sins and seek Him because of the warning that God told him to bring to the people of Nineveh.
Jonah 1:1-4 says:
1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
3 Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
The Great Storm (Jeremiah 6:10-21; Jeremiah 25:15-33; Acts 27:13-26; Romans 1:18-32)
4 Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.
Wickedness or sin is lawlessness or transgressing the Law of God and it cannot be hidden or covered up, but we try to do this every day.
Proverbs 28: 13 says: 13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
God is willing to forgive our sins regardless of their “size” because all sin is abhorrent to God and Jesus paid the price for our sins to cover them and forgive us of their consequences. We look at our sins and think that that “little white lie” isn’t so bad. Not nearly as bad as the man who has murdered someone at least. But in the eyes of God, even though murder is a more grievous sin, any sin weighs the same because it is a transgression of God’s laws. When you break one of His laws it is the same as breaking them all.
Any sin in your life that has not been confessed and forgiven puts a door or a barrier between you and God until it is confessed and forgiven. God warned Cain before he slew his brother that “sin is crouching at your door and it desires to have you, but you must rule over it”. Genesis 4:7
God will judge our unacknowledged sins (Romans 2:16), “God will judge the secrets of man by Jesus Christ”. I know it sounds like a harsh comparison for mankind to be judged according to the sinless Son of God but we, as Christians, are supposed to walk in His ways and seek to live a holy life. In our humanity and by our own strength we can’t do this but by reading God’s Word daily and carefully taking each thought into captivity we can be effective witnesses for Him.
Hiding sins, whether they are “small sins” or “Big sins”, isn’t possible because God knows your heart and your mind. Even if you haven’t given your heart and life to Him, when you stand before Him to be judged, every word and thought will be brought out into the open. That is a scary thing to consider since we rarely have complete control over our thoughts and many times we say things which we should’ve thought about first (but we don’t) and we end up with our foot in our mouth. In God’s economy and under His Laws, every sin weighs the same. We consider some as small and some as big but to Him they are all spots and blemishes on your record and they hinder you from enjoying life as He wants you to.
In every place that you go, if you are a Christian, you take your faith and your beliefs with you. So make sure that you take Jesus with you every day and everywhere you go.
God loves each of us so much that He gave us this world to live in. Even though sometimes it is hard to live in, He loves you and He gives you the strength to make a difference. Take your faith with you no matter what someone says about your faith because Jesus knows your heart and He will give you the words that you need at the time.
Everything that we have has been given to us by God. The air we breathe, the clothes we wear, our job, our family and our health are all gifts that we have because God deemed us worthy to have those gifts. We should go out into the world with our faith in Jesus and let others know about His love for them and to tell them that Jesus died for their sins so that they could have eternal life through belief in His sacrifice for them.
It seems that this is a question which is not often asked or answered in church or any worship setting. But it should be.
According to the Bible, we are not worthy to claim God’s love for us. We aren’t worthy to be granted access to Heaven either. So why are there so many people who believe that there is another pathway or another avenue which will grant them access to Heaven? Being worthy of God’s love for us isn’t hard because He loves us and because we are His creation and His children. But being worthy of Heaven is a totally different story. God is Holy and entirely perfect as well as being the Creator of everything. Do you truly believe that you are good enough to stand in His Presence?
Even Moses, when he came to the burning bush, was told to take of his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. Why was it holy? Because the Presence of God was in the bush and the ground around the bush was holy due to His Presence there. There are many instances of a place being holy in Scripture and the majority of them are because of God’s Presence. So, do you think you are worthy to be able to stand in God’s Presence?
We are not worthy of being in His Presence, standing or on our knees or even face down out of respect. Our sins make us unworthy of Him and His love for us except when we accept Jesus as our Savior and our sins are made as white as snow. Living in this world is possible without Jesus but it is not as enjoyable because in Him we have salvation, in Him we have access to the Creator, in Him we have hope of eternity with Him and that is worth more than all of the money in the whole world!
It is only through Jesus, the Son of God, that we will be able to see God face to face one day. There is a pathway to Heaven and it is by belief in Jesus as our Savior and for our Savior and Jesus is the ONLY way! In the world today, many people seem to be pointing to or trying to find many pathways to eternity in Heaven. But there is only one path and that is through Jesus. God has never lied and the Truth of salvation is only by belief in Jesus as your Savior. The most unusual part about Jesus as your Savior is that He will not try to convince you unless you are truly lost and He has a job for you.
Jesus is hope and strength and courage and the Son of God and He gives us everything that we need to do our job, whatever it may be. Whether it is as a teacher or a preacher or a nurse or a gardener or a janitor or a fisherman, Jesus can use you in any one of these professions to reach at least one more person. You are the only person who can reach that woman or man or girl or boy and Heaven will shout for joy when they finally listen and turn to the One Who can save them.
In a song back in the 70’s (ancient history, I know) there was a lady who wanted to buy the stairway to Heaven. In some ways it seems that there are people today who think that they can purchase their salvation or work their way up the ladder (stairway). It doesn’t work that way. Jesus came to Bethlehem as a baby and He lived His life as one of us, without sin, so that He could pay the price for ALL of mankind’s sins. If you believe in Him for your salvation then you will be in Heaven one day. If not…then you will be in hell with those who chose that pathway.
There is no gray area and no place where you can be saved and yet go back to your old life. If you are truly saved by Jesus and the Holy Spirit comes in and changes your heart, then you can’t go back to the “old way of life”. If you do, then you are likely not saved at all. You just thought you were. God knows the difference and you can tell it too, so make sure of your salvation while there is time, because when this life is over the chance to change is gone.
We must find our way to Jesus while we are yet alive here because when you cross the threshold of life and step into eternity there is no going back. Your eternity will be whatever you chose in this life. Whether it is to be in the Presence of God or to be punished in hell with those who didn’t make a choice (which is a choice) or who chose to follow their own “god”. Why we follow our own idea of “god” rather than believing the Word of God I’ll never understand. God made us in His image and yet we try to live our lives as if we made Him in our image. That is idolatry because you are making your own image of God and He cannot be God as you see fit to make Him.
God is our Creator. He is the Creator of all that is around us and in the universe. We cannot and should not try to place Him inside our little box which has limits on what “he can and cannot do”. God is limitless and unknowable except through the study and reading of His Word. He reveals as much of Himself as we can handle through it and when we get to a point where we can handle more of Him, then He will show us that much more of His character.
Make sure of your eternal home while you can so you will know what is in store after this life is over. Heaven with Jesus and friends or in hell with Satan and his “friends”. Either way it is your choice, so choose wisely. Eternity is a very long time.
The Living Message of Christ 