30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” 36
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
Luke 17: 30-37 NIV
7min read
For the most part of 32 years, I was deceived to believe that I was a good person. I didn’t overindulge in drinking alcohol, it was never a thing for me. I didn’t party hard in my youth or use drugs. I smoked a cigarette once in my life while overseas, and it repulsed me. I contributed to society, working hard, paying my taxes and even volunteering and donating money on occasions. I had a heart that was sensitive to those around me. And in turn, I believed I was a good enough person. But now, I can see how burdensome that is. Why would I need a saviour when I am good enough in my own means? Why would I have a desire to turn to Jesus, when I have enough value in who I am as a person, on my own? Has the devil convinced us that we will go to heaven without Jesus, because we are good enough in ourselves?
1The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 “Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.”
Ezekiel 37: 1-4 NIV
And like the dry bones, when we are deceived to believe we are good enough in our own means, it is as though we walk around like bodies without life in them. We burden ourselves with anything we can grasp, to feel life and joy in momentary situations. And instead the moment passes us by so swiftly that we are chasing the next thing that makes us feel good. The house, the car, the sex, the pornography, the money, the materialistic wealth, the hate, the gossip, the same sex relationships. Because it is what feels good…..right?
God has something so much greater for us. He is the giver, and desires to breath life into our being so we can experience the fruits of His spirit- Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Goodness, Gentleness, faithfulness and Self-Control. The fruits that can only be sustained in us, from the Father. We all have a Jesus shaped hole in our heart. One we so deeply desire to be filled with what the world has to offer, but it will always fall short of His glory. And when we experience the love that He has for us, nothing in this life compares to its goodness.
And in our culture today, our standards of what is good is burdened by our own rights and laws, causing us to forget what is actually of benefit to us. Which is the Ten Commandments, as written in the Old Testament. God sets these laws in place to give us life and life abundantly. When we assess these laws against ourselves, do we truly meet up to the standard God asks of us? No, we all fall short. Where have the fundamental values of what this country was formed on gone? What do we believe in? If we believe in anything? And where does it lead us?
1 “And God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
The Ten Commandments Exodus 20: 1-17 NIV
The 3 fundamental questions that I believe speak to our hearts about this life are: Where did we come from? What are we doing here? and Where are we going? As a believer of Christ, all these answers can be found in the Bible. And it gives us clarity and comfort in knowing we have a God who loves us and desires the best for us, in this life now and the life to come. He is the Giver of the Law. He is the Giver of Life.
Do not let the devil convince you that you are good enough in your own means, that heaven is your entry way when you do not acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Saviour. God sent His one and only beloved Son to die on the cross for us so we can experience heaven in this life now, and the life to come. Our God is a just God. All payments of sin need to be rectified. And there will be a day of judgment when God will stand before us all. So ask yourself, are you above the law?
10 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.“
Philippians 2: 10-11 NIV
So accept the payment of sin that Jesus has already made for us, through the bloodshed that He bore on the cross. Jesus did not come to abolish the law but came to fulfil it, and give us life and life abundantly through the forgiveness of our sins. So make a choice to let Jesus wash you clean. Do not be deceived by thinking you can make it to heaven without Him. Instead, strip yourself of self-righteousness and ego and let the grace of God fall upon you on this day. In the mighty name of Jesus.
Nadia x
All for His Glory.
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