It Didn’t Have to End Like This
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” - Galatians 6:9
As we continue to think about Judas and his betrayal, perhaps the saddest part of the entire story is what Judas does when he comes to terms with the fact he has let Jesus down. He thought his sins had caused him to be cancelled by God. When Judas tried to return the money he had been given for betraying Jesus, the men would not accept the money back. So instead, Judas threw it down, left, and hung himself.
Judas had convinced himself that he had fallen so far from the grace of God that he was no longer in the grip of the grace of God. He thought that what he had done was so bad that God had abandoned him. What he didn’t realize is that the God we serve is a God of second chances. God did not cancel Noah for being drunk, and God did not discard Abraham for being a liar, and He did not fire David for being a murderer and adulterer.
The tragedy of the life of Judas is not that he betrayed Jesus. The tragedy is that he betrayed himself. He didn’t realize that even though he made a bad mistake, his life didn’t have end the way it did. And the same is true for you. No matter who you are and what you have done, your sins, no matter how bad they are, do not cause you to be dismissed by God. He loves us not because of us, but despite us.
Whether you have stopped coming to church, stopped praying, or stopped living your life for Christ, you do not have to lose your life because of a mistake you made. It does not have to end like this for you. God’s love is not conditional or transactional. He is not keeping a scorecard of your wrong doings. The Bible says that as far as the east is from the west, He has cast our sins away from us. Let go of your sin today, God has already forgiven you. Will you forgive you? If there is breath in your lungs, God still has a plan for you. It doesn’t have to end like this. Let God right a new chapter in your life today!
As we continue to think about Judas and his betrayal, perhaps the saddest part of the entire story is what Judas does when he comes to terms with the fact he has let Jesus down. He thought his sins had caused him to be cancelled by God. When Judas tried to return the money he had been given for betraying Jesus, the men would not accept the money back. So instead, Judas threw it down, left, and hung himself.
Judas had convinced himself that he had fallen so far from the grace of God that he was no longer in the grip of the grace of God. He thought that what he had done was so bad that God had abandoned him. What he didn’t realize is that the God we serve is a God of second chances. God did not cancel Noah for being drunk, and God did not discard Abraham for being a liar, and He did not fire David for being a murderer and adulterer.
The tragedy of the life of Judas is not that he betrayed Jesus. The tragedy is that he betrayed himself. He didn’t realize that even though he made a bad mistake, his life didn’t have end the way it did. And the same is true for you. No matter who you are and what you have done, your sins, no matter how bad they are, do not cause you to be dismissed by God. He loves us not because of us, but despite us.
Whether you have stopped coming to church, stopped praying, or stopped living your life for Christ, you do not have to lose your life because of a mistake you made. It does not have to end like this for you. God’s love is not conditional or transactional. He is not keeping a scorecard of your wrong doings. The Bible says that as far as the east is from the west, He has cast our sins away from us. Let go of your sin today, God has already forgiven you. Will you forgive you? If there is breath in your lungs, God still has a plan for you. It doesn’t have to end like this. Let God right a new chapter in your life today!
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