Sin no more!

Dear brothers and sisters,

It's been a very long time since I posted to this blog. I don't know why other than I lost interest, not in the purpose or theme, but in trying to develop things to say. I no longer felt inspired to write. Maybe that was because I was no longer listening to the Lord, but to my own ego. Anyway, I now have something I want to say and I feel the Lord would not disagree.

A lot is happening right now in our country and across the world. Many "end-timers" are pointing to Biblical prophecy and saying the Lord's return is near. (Of course it is! Every day it's nearer than the day before.) I look forward to the Lord's return, but am content and secure in knowing that no one knows when that will occur and that the Lord will remember me when He does return.

There is a daily email newsletter that I get that focuses a lot on world events and often associates them with prophesized end-times events. I enjoy reading them, but sometimes disagree with the position taken by the author.

One such disagreement is a remark in his latest newsletter. This author was making a call to the Christian Church in the United States to rise up and demand "Biblical justice" from ourselves and our nation. The comment made was, "But instead of the Church rising up, we have millions of people marching in the streets on behalf of total anarchy who are not even legally in this country and should have no say over our government whatsoever." Obviously, he was referring to the recent issue of illegal alien workers in this country, namely (though not exclusively) Mexicans.

The problem I have is that that attitude is un-Biblical. God told Israel that the aliens in their country to be treated fairly, because Israel was once aliens themselves. The implication is that there should be no unfair discrimination against others because they are simply alien. Without getting into a legal discussion (or getting off track), my comment is about being fair and unbiased in our attitudes expressed toward "illegals" (and others who may be different).

When Jesus forgave the woman at the well, He told her to "go and sin no more". He knew she was going to sin again. He knew it would be impossible for her to not sin again. But that didn’t stop Him from forgiving her. He knows our imperfect nature. Does it stop Him from forgiving us? Did He ever say that forgiveness is contingent upon our never sinning again? She had not even repented when Jesus forgave her. What do we do with that knowledge?

As Christians, we must know our Bible. We must consume the Word of God such that it causes us indigestion when we hear another Christian make derogatory or discriminatory remarks against others who may be members of Christ’s Church just like he is. We must not fall into the same trap.

Why is this important? Mostly because we must seek God’s Will in all we say and do and think (much easier said than done!); but, also because the world is watching. Are we good servants of the Lord when we ignore or (choose to) forget His instructions to us? Let’s remember the woman at the well and Jesus’ unending love for her and us. Let’s remember to behave the way the Lord showed us to.

Amen.

De colores.