Grace

Come!

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Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money,
come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Isaiah 55:1 NIV

When we lived in the mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania we had two Elkhounds: named Sonya and Thunder. Though they were sisters from the same litter, and looked alike, their personalities were completely different. Thunder loved nothing better than to sit with me and let her ears be scratched, but Sonya was always looking for a chance to escape and would usually entice Thunder to run after her. Late one snowy Winter night, I cracked the front door open to see how much had fallen, when Sonya suddenly shot out between me and the door, with Thunder close behind. “Sonya! Thunder! Come back!” I shouted after them, but rather than turning or even slowing down, they hurried off into the darkness. As Elkhounds I knew they weren’t in any danger from the cold, and since they were ignoring me, I simply shrugged my shoulders, closed the door, flicked off the light and went to bed. In the morning you never saw such a meek couple of puppy-dogs, curled up by our doorway and eager to be let back in.

Sometimes our walk with God looks like that night on the mountain. God loves us to come sit close to Him. He wants nothing more than to care for us and keep us safe in His presence. In today’s verse, He calls to us, “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.” But sometimes our heart longs to run, and when we do God doesn’t chase after us. We think we are getting away with something, but in reality, we are trading a safe warm home for a night in a snowstorm of doubts, fears and false promises. How amazingly good it is that God doesn’t lock His door and vow to never speak to us again. Instead, when we limp home with our feet frozen from the cold, and huddle up outside His door, He calls us again, but this time He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest!” Can you hear Him calling? Are you ready to listen to His voice? The moment our heart says, “Yes” we will discover a rest that He paid for on Calvary and the home that He has prepared for us to stay in forever!

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-31 NIV

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A Little Talk

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When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed my lambs. 
John 21:15 ESV

One old gospel song has a line that says, “Let us have a little talk with Jesus” And when people mention prayer usually we usually start thinking of what we will say in that little talk. But usually, what we really need to do is to let Jesus talk first! In today’s verse, Jesus is telling Peter something He had been trying to say for years. Bur Peter had been so busy talking that Jesus just couldn’t get Him to listen. One time Peter even boasted that He was more faithful than any of the other disciples.

At this Peter exclaimed, “Even if everyone should lose his faith in you, I never will!”
Matthew 26:33 Phillips New Testament

But that same night Peter denied even knowing Jesus three times. If you were Jesus, what would you do? What Jesus did was to come and have a little talk with Peter. Though we might criticize Peter, deep down inside we know that we have all failed just as badly or even worse. But the good news is that Jesus still comes and asks for us start walking with Him again, and He asks the question, “Do you love Me?” Then, when He has our full attention, He gently but firmly commands, “Then go feed My lambs!”

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No Throw Away People

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But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 ESV

“They’re a bunch of rapists, murderers and drug dealers. Filthy animals! Let’s lock ’em up and throw away the key!” When we read accounts of the recent deportation of gang members to a prison in El Salvador, if we are honest, we might have to admit that we have used these kinds of words. Does our heart secretly do a little dance each time we hear of another one being thrown in the clink, deported or shot by the police? I struggle with these very thoughts myself, but the Holy Spirit reminded me recently that God created each one of those young men and women in His own image. He breathed the same breath of life into their lungs, knit them together in their mothers’ wombs, and planned a home in heaven for them, just as He has done for me. Though they may have covered themselves with tattoos, and have lived a lifestyle contrary to God’s will, it in no way means that they have no value to Him. When Jesus looks down from heaven over them, He doesn’t say, “Well I told them so! Now they’ve finally gotten what they deserved!”

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In fact, in the Bible we can find a list of men and women, a lot like them. “Yeah, like who?” you might ask with a gasp. Well, we could start with a murderous guy named Saul, who tells us that he was the chief ringleader of sinners. Then there was the working stiff named Peter. He fell to his knees in shame when Jesus blessed him with a boatload of fish, shouting, “Go away from here, I am a sinful man!” We also mustn’t forget the unfaithful woman caught in bed with her neighbor, the corrupt tax collector named Zaccheus and the brutal executioner standing at the foot of the cross, waiting for Jesus to die so he could go home for the night. None of these folks sounds like the type of company we hope to have sitting next to us in church on Sunday, but Jesus does! No, He didn’t join them in their sins, but He loved them with a radical love, that drove Him to the cross, accepted nails to be driven through His hands and feet, and allowed Himself to be stripped, crowned with thorns and spit on. His kind of love reached the thief dying next to Him, forgave those who killed him and even allowed Judas to kiss Him. The God who loved the world so much that He gave His only Son to die for us, came for sinners, because there were no other kinds of people. We all deserve to be locked away in the dark place of eternal punishment named hell and have the key thrown away forever. But instead of throwing us away, Jesus took our place and gave eternal life to everyone who repents and believes in Him: no exceptions! Now He commands (not suggests) that we offer that same love and forgiveness to others, because there are no, “Throw away people.” and no one so far away, that they cannot return to Him!