We could all use some good news, and good news there is!  In a world that seems like it’s falling apart, God has an eternal, good plan.  The Bible tells us that life was never meant to be the way it is, filled with hurt and harm, disappointment and death.  God created everything good, (Genesis 1:21) His (and our) opposition has done everything possible to destroy that goodness.  Most of us are at least familiar with the Bible story of good and evil, about the fall of mankind, the entrance of death, (Genesis 3:3-5). It’s just that many people believe God is the evil one for allowing this. Not true. He simply created us not as robots, but as beings with the capability of choosing to love Him back, and unfortunately mankind made the willful choice to follow the deceiver.

The Bible tells us the truth, truth of how we came to be, truth about how to live life, truth about what will become of us upon our death. And what eternity holds all  revolves around what each of us believes about WHO is good. Some believe WE are all good, not so, not on our own anyway (Romans 3:23). We all make wrong choices at times. The Bible calls it what it is, sin.  It’s anything that goes against what God says, or what He calls right. We don’t make up the rules, He does.  Most of us rebel against that idea. We believe we should call the shots, make our own rules, but we can see from living in this world, where this idea is prevalent, that things don’t work so well that way.

So the question becomes how do we get to go to heaven, the place where God lives, where all things are right and good like they were first intended to be.  Some will say we get there by doing our best, hopefully our good out weighs our bad. But the  Bible says all we do right is as filthy rags (Isaiah 65:6). In other words, even when we do right, it’s never pure, there may be selfishness or self worth issues connected to our works.  It’s frustrating, we try, but only God is truly pure and good.

So, we can clearly see that we live in a fallen world that has problems and  we cannot deny the fact that we are going to die someday.  That can make us mad, make us afraid, make us even more rebellious, or cause us to search for truth. The truth is God loves all he made and it is not His desire to see even one person die, (Matthew 18:13-15).  His plan from the beginning was to send a Savior, His own spotless son, to be our payment for sin.  Jesus came to earth, lived a sinless life, suffered and died in our place and rose to heaven, forever sealing the promise to us, that if we would understand the gravity of our depravity, call on his name and accept his gift to us, we will be saved (John 3:16).

You may say it sounds too simple, nothing is for free.  And it’s true, nothing is for free, it costs us our lives in exchange for this gift.  By this I don’t mean we work for our salvation, that was already discussed previously, nothing we can do would be good enough. So in that sense, salvation is free, we can never earn it.   However, too many people have been lulled into thinking just asking God for the free gift is enough.

But salvation is a relationship.  Described in the Bible much as a relationship between a husband and wife, the most intimate, loving, accepting relationship we could have on this earth (though marriages fall way short on this earth of what they should be).  What would a marriage be like it a wife simply took the husbands name and that was it. No acts of love and service, no intimate time spent together, nothing that even showed the two to be a couple.  It can be the same way for many that call themselves “Christians”.  While we don’t “earn” salvation, it is our “privilege and duty”, out of this loving relationship we now have with our creator and Savior, to live our lives devoted to Him.  The benefits out weigh the sacrifice. God is so good, so kind (Galatians 5:22-23).   The benefit of living this life being loved and cared for by the someone so wonderful is amazing!

Am I saying, become a Christian and never have a trouble in the world again? No, I am not. The Bible is full of stories of trial and suffering, even martyrs and we see it yet today (Hebrews 11:32-40). But not one soul who have given of themselves out of love for the Savior will be disappointed in the afterlife, and God promises to never leave us alone in this life (Hebrew 13:5).

My prayer for those of you reading this is that you will read the Bible and find truth our for yourself. Start in Genesis if you wish, but move on to the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.  Read the New Testament before you move on to the Old.  Much of the  Old Testament is history and prophesy, things we can find harder to enjoy or understand right away.  Most of all, ask God to help you understand his word, seek Him and you will find Him (Deuteronomy 4:29).

I speak these things to you from experience, I have felt every emotion and thought expressed. I doubted at times, I’ve rebelled, I’ve searched. But in the end I’ve come to see, God is good, God is true. His word the Bible is the only truth there is. I trust Him with my life, I trust Him in death. I want to give my life over to Him because I love Him and He loves me.

May God bless you and keep you.  With sincere love, Kathy- Lacy Creek Growers

P.S. Feel free to contact me, for discussion, questions, or prayer.