Saturday 13 Apr 2013

Saturday Reading: John 5:24-27

Key Verse: John 5:26
26  For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

Devotion:
I do like the way in which Jesus gives us His Word; it is a simple truth that we do have eternal life if we believe on God and Him as the Son of God. It is not a case of you may get it if you continue to be good but that we already have access to it because we did believe at one point in our lives. And then we read this verse itself and must realise that it is true because Jesus has the same power as God the Father to give eternal life to whoever believes on His name. This is not a small gift of a few more years on earth or a few more pennies on your pocket but a gift of eternal life for our souls.

Jesus did not stand there and tell us all that He loves us so much that He is going to make sure we all get to heaven because He knows that some people will still choose not to believe in Him. Jesus did not say that we will still be ok if we do not believe. Jesus did not say that this will all happen on such and such a day or at a particular place. Instead Jesus was very open and honest saying that if we do not choose to believe then we will have to face up to the consequences of that choice. He said that we need to believe it in our hearts and that we have to be ready right now in case He comes back right now.

This is an eternal gift that He has promised us and one that He has delivered to every single person that believes on God as the one and only true God. If we confess that same belief with our own mouths (be it verbally out loud or quietly within ourselves) then He will give us that gift of life eternal with Him in heaven. It is a sure thing not a fairy tale and certainly not something that we have to test out before believing because if we try to test it first we may well miss out entirely.

God gave Jesus the ultimate authority to judge us because it was Jesus who took on our sin debt at the cross; He paid for our debt so He is the one who has the power to judge us for what we do and what we believe. He is the one who looks inside our hearts to see what we believe and to make sure that we are not trying to pull a fast one just to be safe. Jesus wants our attention continually and not just once a week when we feel up to it because He is giving us a gift that is forever and for always…

Points to Ponder:
Who do you look to for security?

How deep is your love for God?