“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall
inherit the kingdom of God. And such
were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” - 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11
Our
God is a God of restoration. He is a God
of hope, of perfection, of betterment.
Are we not all thankful that God does not chose us the way the world chooses us? If a man walked into a job
interview, drenched with the stench of alcohol and clothed in tattered old
clothing. Do you think he would get the
job? How many colleges do you think
would admit an applicant that was illiterate?
The world does not accept, or venture to embrace what we could be, but
rather what we are. It loves those who by
reason of strength, charm, or in some cases good fortune, have exalted
themselves above the rest, and given all below something to envy ; or at the
very least something to entertain. God’s
selection process is somewhat different, he cries “whosoever will.”
Imagine
with me for a moment, if a radical Muslim, known world over for hunting and
killing Christians, say Bin Ladin, if he was still alive; walked into your
church Sunday morning? What if he
strolled right up to the pulpit opened the Bible and began to read Matthew 7:7
& 8? What would you do? Would you believe him? Would you be terrified of him? Do you think it can’t happen? It has already happened; the very quote at
the top of this page was penned by a man such as this. A man that vehemently persecuted the church,
imprisoned preachers of the gospel; he made it his life’s work to destroy
Christianity. Then one day the Jesus
stopped him in his tracks, and changed his life forever; are we not thankful
that God’s selection process is somewhat different than the worlds? I ask, if God can take a man such as Paul, a
man that killed Christians. If he can
sanctify this man, if he can make a: preacher, teacher, minister, apostle, out
of this man. What can he do for you in
your life? He does not see us as the
world does. You see a filthy, ruined,
broken life. He sees a white, clean,
complete, testimony. You see a sin
enslaved prisoner. He sees a prime
candidate to be an ambassador to him, and a preacher of the ministry of
reconciliation. A person that can proclaim to all who will hear “he did it for
me and he can do it for you!” Simply
put, Jesus can change your life, if you give it to him. As the old hymn goes “give up, and let Jesus
take over.”
I
don’t know who reads this every week. I
don’t who you are, or where you come from.
But I do know this, the person who gets up from an altar of prayer, will
not be the same person who knelt to begin with.
That’s why it’s called conversion, and when God puts his Spirit in your
heart it will burn out the “want-to” part of you. That part of you that naturally “wants-to”
disobey God. It will take that part out
and put in a new “want-to.” A want-to
that wants what he wants, and desires what he desires. It will make you, well………holy. That’s the gospel, and it is for whosoever
will, not for whosoever is qualified.
You don’t get your life in order so you can come to God; you come to God
because he can put your life in order.
Like a rose among the thorns, God can make something beautiful blossom
from a sharp, barren, harsh, vine………If you let him. This radical restoration comes from radical
reconciliation. When you give your all
to God, he can change it all; for His glory.
