Crossing Over!

Crossing Over!

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. John 5:24 KJV

The Context:

Jesus had just healed a man who had been sick and bedridden for 38 years. It was also on the Sabbath day when no work was permitted, yet the man who had always lain on his bed was accused of breaking the law of the Sabbath because he dared to carry his bed. The Jews were so stuck on procedure that they missed the miracle: a man who had been sick for 38 was completely fine. We can get stuck too: stuck on how things are done that we forget that God can fetch water with a basket just to disgrace a bucket. Pray, how does a stick make an iron axe head float? How do hungry lions watch their prey all night, unable to eat, simply because a child of God was in the same den? We need to know the God we have been called to follow and serve, and that He can do all things; He can dispense with process to establish his divine purpose. 

Rules are good, but they can't replace the benefits of relationships. Check out a verse before today's extract: the Jews sought to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus knew who he was, even if men around him didn't. It didn't matter what they thought; what was important was that the work Jesus was sent to do was being done. And he was going to face the work that needed to be done. Every other thing was just a distraction. 

The Message:

What is the personal commitment from me here? A lot of words about Jesus are in the public domain, but very little activity in the right direction. We know the practices and conventions of the faith but there is little or no actual power behind our actions. We hold on to a form of religion, but there is no power. We do 'church' forgetting that church is not first about service, but about relationship. The first ingredient in the success story of the early chunky was the Holy Spirit, not the quality of the speakers or their academic status. I ask again: who is this Jesus to you: just one of those people you hear about, or your Saviour, Lord and Master?

The focus is on both hearing and believing. All men may hear but you can't miss it when you see a man who believes. His entire life is impacted by his belief. Men of old lived and died on the strength of their belief in God. What could have kept a man like Stephen focused on God even when he was being stoned to death? What could have kept Paul going, even though he knew that troubles awaited him every step of the way? I must not be content with just hearing; I have to also believe. That is the complete package that seals eternal life for me. In that day, many will claim that they knew the name, and also did miracles in that name, but the owner of the name will claim that they didn't know Him; they only knew of the name. May the Lord help us in this generation, so we don't focus on the wrong things and miss the eternally important things. 

The Word of God is the recipe for faith in a man's heart. How can I know God if I don't search for Him through His own words and manual for life? How else will I know God's will and direction for my life if I don't hear him clarify these for me? God also makes it clear that there is an eternity to sort out, and what I do down here determines where I end up. Let no man deceive you into thinking that a loving God cannot throw a man into hell. A man goes to hell not because God didn't do enough, but because the man chose to ignore the love on offer. Those who know God aren't to be seen as lucky; they simply realised they were better off with God and embraced His love. The same applies to us now: eternity lies at the end of our choices. What will it be for you? 

The Response:

I have again heard about this love and this God, and a decision has to be made. There is a crossing over that happens when a man accepts Jesus as Lord and Saviour. The chain of the old life, with its allegiance to death, has been broken. The hold of the devil over my life is broken. I owe allegiance now to the One who has redeemed my life from hell. The God who did all these will not force Himself on me. He tells me what I stand to gain with Him, and his arms are wide open to receive me. However, I will not always have these open arms to run into forever. The day of decision is today. Nobody knows what tomorrow holds, and nobody can predict when the end will come. While I have time, I must remind myself and the world of the benefits and consequences of decisions. 

Even while I am waiting for the physical reality of eternity, it is already a reality in my heart. If Jesus lives in my heart, my eternity is signed, sealed and delivered. Heaven is the destination, eternal life the prize and Jesus the medium, mediator and enforcer of the benefits of this new life. He waits to impact; he wants to change my life. Would I let Him? Would you? His time of favour is here.