Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The Book That Matters Most

Revelation 20 concludes with a sober scene. God is seated on the great white throne, earth and sky have fled, and all the dead from all ages are there awaiting their final judgment.

There’s a book there that holds the key to your destination and the destination of everyone who has ever lived.

You might say this is allegorical. If it is, we’re wasting time and space talking about it. But what if it isn’t? Then you better find out how to get your name in that book.

Here’s one way to look at it if you suffer from any agnostic tendencies. A classmate of mine in a religion class I was enrolled in back in college made an astute comment. He said, “Here’s how I see it. You can believe in Heaven and Hell and God and Satan. If you do, then by accepting God’s Word that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, you go to Heaven. If He shouldn’t exist, what do you have to lose if reincarnation is true? You get another shot to do it better anyway.”

Yes, there’s a difference in belief systems.

God made rules and violations of them are called sin. We know these rules because they’re written on our hearts from birth. It’s why we feel violated when someone treats us badly, steals from us, or hurts us. It’s the reason why we have some sense of morality even if we deny the existence of God.

Since sin is real and God calls that sin into judgment, it’s to our advantage to deal with the reality of God and sin. If we’ve offended Him with our behavior and the attitudes of our hearts, shouldn’t we beg for pardon?

Yes.

But some don’t.

Sin brings guilt. Guilt brings a feeling of uneasiness. There are two options to deal with it. We can turn to diversions or we can run to Jesus. We can bury the guilt or let Jesus take it.

The takeaway for today is that if you give Jesus the guilt you carry now, you will find a peace that escaped you before. You exchange your yolk for His, and His is easy. The burden of wrongdoing is lifted, and you never feel the full weight of it again.

That’s worth singing about.

And it will get your name in the Book. 

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