John 12:44-5044 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
My friend is a former narcotics officer in Houston. He has been stabbed twice, shot once by a fellow officer by accident, and ran over numerous times by a vehicle. He decided to get out of the police force when he was working undercover and had a thirteen year-old sell him drugs because his elderly grandparents thought they could get away with it by using a minor. He told me he had never been more disappointed in humanity than while he was a police officer. During part of his initial training he was required to be a jailer in a prison, and he would sit and visit at length with the worst criminals incarcerated. When he asked them about their chances of going to heaven, they replied that as long as they asked for God’s forgiveness before they were executed or died, then they would be forgiven. He has been troubled since that those same criminals might share in eternal life with him, and he asked me what I thought. I told him that I didn’t know the answer, but from what I had studied about God’s grace and Jesus’ sacrifice for all of us, that it might very well be the case. I told him it wasn’t our place to decide. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice as part of God’s new covenant and no matter how great or small the sin, God’s grace has been extended to all of us. For that we should all be thankful.
Lenten Prayer: Lord, thank you for your Covenant to us. No matter what walls we are confined by, it is your gift that frees us from the shackles of the world. Forgive us for our selfishness that we may remember the holes in your hands, your pierced flesh, and your final acts of love. Ultimate Grace without bounds encompass us with your love and warm us with the Comforter which you have extended to All. Today we rejoice and sing songs of praise that can be heard in the heavens at your throne. You are the Bread of Life that feeds us. Almighty God, we are humbled by your love. Amen.
Todd Hall
