John 8:6-7
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
A “preacher’s kid” friend of mine recently shared a story about a colleague of her dad’s… a pastor we both happen to know. It seems that one of his church members telephoned him one day and began to rant and rave about someone else who attended their church. She said, “Pastor, you’ve got a SINNER in your church!” The pastor replied, “Lady, all I’ve got in my church is sinners! If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have anybody!”
We can laugh, but this is the truth in a nutshell. Every time we point our finger at someone, four fingers are pointing in our direction. Just because you don’t kill, lie, cheat or steal doesn’t mean you are sinless. Do you overeat? Are you lazy? Do you gossip and say unkind things about others… even once in a while? Here’s a biggie… do you disobey God? Do you ever say, “I know I should do so-and-so… it’s the right thing to do… but I just don’t feel like it today.” It’s good to meet you, fellow sinner!
One of the things we seem to so easily forget is that God’s laws are for EVERYONE. We cannot pick and choose when and where we apply them to our situation … or anyone else’s. We can’t say, “Oh, look at what he/she has done” without also looking in the mirror.
So the next time we want to condemn someone for a comment he/she has made, we have to think about the things we have said. When we want to criticize or denounce another person for an indiscretion or any behavior of which we don’t approve, we had better check our own conduct first.
The line has effectively been drawn in the sand. Jesus stands on one side… the only example of true perfection. The rest of us are on the other side. None of us can step over the line. The GOOD NEWS is that Jesus has also drawn a circle… around all of us. He stands ready to embrace and include each of us, if only we will surrender to Him and admit that we are anything but faultless.
When we ask Jesus to forgive us for OUR sins, He wraps His arms around us and draws us in as part of His precious inner circle. And He has room for any and all who ask to enter. So we must not be surprised when the other guy we have been so quick to criticize shows up there, as well. In fact, I can almost hear Him saying, “Listen, people! All I’ve got in my circle is repentant sinners… and I still have room for YOU!”
©2012 Debbie Robus
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