Wednesday, July 1, 2015

A Line in the Sand

Matthew 12:30 - He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. 

I awoke yesterday, again, at 3:00 AM. As I tried to fall back to sleep two paraphrased scriptures ran through my head: Jesus overcame the world and He drew a line in the sand. Later another scripture popped in there: for Me or against Me. I had to write these down because I knew, despite how clear they were at that moment, I'd forget later. 

I have struggled writing this, making sense of the connection between these thoughts. The more I pondered the narrower it became: Jesus is the line in the sand. I could picture Him always standing between us and the Father. He knows our sins and how we are separated from the Father because of them. But He will forgive if we receive Him, if we are willing to admit our sin and confess them to Himand receive His forgiveness. He is the Mediator between God and man. We are either for Him or against Him. There is no middle road. We are on one side of that line or the other. 

Remember He was confronted by the Pharisees and Sadducees regarding the woman caught in adultery? They wanted to trip Him up regarding how she should be dealt with. Old Testament laws stated she should be stoned. But Jesus represents the New Testament law. Do you see it? These religious leaders could not accept this thing called forgiveness. He forgave the woman; they walked away with unforgiveness still in their hearts. He stood between the accused and the accusers. 

Where am I going with this? Jesus, the only Mediator. Despite our sin He is willing to forgive, if we are willing to admit that we sin. But we have to understand what sin is. We cannot pick and choose what sin is. Society has done that. God has His own set of standards and He never changes. It grieves me to see how so many think they are okay with God in their sin. There needs to be an enlightenment but it seems to rarely come.

There is a line to be drawn. He stands as that line. One cannot be in sin and think Jesus is okay with it. He is willing to forgive if we are willing to admit our sin. Are we for Jesus or not? Do we believe what He says of sin or not? Are we accepting of these sins or not? (We should not be.) Jesus always stands between us with our sin and the Father. The Mediator between God and man. Which side will we choose? 

Jesus said as He died on the cross, Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do. If you remember, one thief was pardoned because he confessed he was deserving of punishment. The other did not. Jesus was between them, like that line in the sand. One chose Him, the other did not. We are either for Him (like the adulteress woman became) or against Him (like the Pharisees and Sadducees). It should be our plea also: forgive me and forgive them. He overcame the world and so will we if we acknowledge Him and keep our eyes focused on Him. We all have needed or need enlightenment of truth. Jesus will do this. 

John 8:12 - Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” 

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