Tuesday, October 30, 2007

IF NOT ... / THEN WHAT?

­Society today tells you that there are many reasons why it cannot love you just the way you are. It tells you that if you don’t look more beautiful, if you don’t wear the popular clothes, if you are not more cool, then people will not accept you. This is what it takes to be accepted by the standards of our society.

As I studied English in high school, I learned about something called an if / then clause. It is a rule that if you use the word ‘if’ in a sentence, you must also use the word ‘then’ soon after it. It is there to indicate a cause/ effect relationship.

In Herbie’s story, we read of a couple ‘if/then’ clauses in his life. If you believed that you had sinned too much for God to ever be able to forgive you, then you would feel hopeless about life. This is how Herbie felt. If you had “led a rough life” and had become separated from your family and friends, then you would become lonely. Just as Herbie was.

Often, society is cruel in its consequences for our actions. Perhaps you too have been through circumstances that have dealt you nothing but hopelessness, loneliness, and pain.

However, God offers us a chance to experience his blessing and loving kindness if we will only come to Him. In 1st John 1:7-9, the author tells us about three if / then clauses that lead to life! He says:

1. If we claim to be without sin, [then] we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

2. If we confess our sins [then] He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

3. If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, [then] the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

What peace and joy came into Herbie’s life when he submitted to God’s truth and came to Jesus for cleansing and a new life? This hope is available to all, if they only come to God through the way he has opened, his Son Jesus Christ. Please consider this final if / then clause in Scripture. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son. [If we] believe in Him, [then] we shall not die, but have ever lasting life.” (John 3:16 my paraphrase) If you truly catch the meaning of this, you will find eternal life...Just as Herbie did!

To learn more about Herbie, read his testimony at: http://www.thestreetcorner.org/

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