Saturday 11 Aug 2012

Saturday Reading: John 3:14-17

Key Verse: John 3:16
16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Devotion:
Depending on who you ask you may get varying responses to the question “Is it easy to become a Christian?” For those who look at the lives they have had to lead, some will answer “Yes it is very hard”. For those who love the peace that it brings, many will answer “No it’s quite simple”. And then you will get all the layers in between…

Becoming a Christian and living as a Christian should be looked as two entirely different things because they are. Christ indeed came into this world so that all may come to repentance and believe that He is the Son of God but He also came to remind us that we are sinners. Just because He has already paid the sin debt that we owe does not mean that we are automatically all Christians. We still have that choice to make as to whether we do believe in Him or whether we quietly (or brashly) continue on in our own little worlds. I say little because in comparison to eternity, our world is very small and very short!

God has shown us all along that it is a simple task to believe the truth but we are the ones that make it such a hard task to follow. Just as Adam and Eve turned a simple “don’t” into a life changing even, we take the simple truth and come up with all manner of excuses and even rules of our own to try and make things happen our way instead of following the law. In the desert the Israelites just had to look up at the brazen serpent to be healed; or in other words they had to believe that by looking up at the serpent they would be healed. All we have to do is to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He did come to save us from our sins.

The love of God should never be brought into question because we have more than enough proof of that love; but we look at all of the other things that happen in this world because of the sin and we turn round and blame God instead. It is not His fault that we sin – it is our choice. God has given us the choice – we need to choose!

Points to Ponder:
Do you know God’s love?

Do you believe in your heart that Jesus died for you?