Daily Devotional for July 25, 2013

John 3:16-18
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.
 
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.
 
Last week at Vacation Bible School, the children learned the Bible verse from John 3:16.  As I talked with the students who came through my crafts class (roughly ages 7-12), I asked them what this verse meant to them.  In the more traditional translation, they were told that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish.  What did the word “perish” mean to them?  You can’t tell a child that they will never die… because in the mortal sense, all of us will die someday.  So how do you explain this verse in a way that makes sense?
 
I believe this translation from The Message goes a long way toward doing exactly this!  God loved us to enough to sacrifice His one and only Son, Jesus Christ – to send Him into the world to fight the devil, and to suffer on the cross for our sins… to “stand in the crosshairs on our behalf”.  If we believe this and trust Jesus, we can have a whole and lasting life… help with all of our troubles…peace and comfort in every situation… and the promise of forever at His feet in heaven when our human bodies give out.  If we do not choose Jesus, we choose to perish, which means we ultimately choose the “death sentence” of hell – whether we say this out loud or not.
 
Children understand choices.  They make them every day.  We tell even smaller children, “You can choose to throw that temper tantrum and go to ‘Time Out,’ or you can choose to stop your screaming and play nicely.  You get to choose – eat your dinner and you get ice cream; don’t eat your dinner, and there will be no dessert!”  So when we tell them, “You can choose to believe that God loves you… that Jesus wants to be your ‘Forever Friend’ and help you with anything and everything.  When you get to heaven, Jesus will stand before God and tell Him that ‘I’ve covered his/her sins.  He is part of our family forever.’  Or, you can choose to trust the devil, and he will lie to you and tell you your life is good – but it will all end very badly someday.  When your earthly life ends, there will be nobody there to stand up for you.  This is what it means to ‘perish.’”
 
This is a hard reality… one we don’t like to think about…one that on the surface paints Christianity as cold and calculated – an “either/or” situation.  And in some ways, it is.  But don’t miss the beauty and peace of this passage.  God loved us SO MUCH that He was willing to send is one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to live among us, love us, and teach us how to get along… and then die a horrible, gruesome, agonizing death so that we can LIVE… FOREVER and EVER and EVER!  All we have to do is choose Jesus!  All we have to do is love Him back, and He takes care of absolutely, positively everything else!  Yes, the alternative is essentially a “death sentence.”  Yes, those who choose not to believe are destined for an eternity in hell… if not hell on earth.  But it doesn’t have to be this way.  The choice is so simple… and beautiful… and filled with peace and joy.  Choose Jesus.  Choose JESUS!  CHOOSE JESUS!!!
 
At the end of our VBS, I believe many of the children totally “got this”.  If little children can understand God’s words in John 3:16-18, why can’t we?  What is keeping us from believing with childlike faith?  The stakes are so high… the rewards are so great… the peace is indescribable.  Will you choose to perish with the devil… or will you choose to live with Jesus?  You’ve been given an amazing, incredible gift in Jesus Christ… won’t you accept Him and invite Him into your heart forever?
 
©2013 Debbie Robus