DOING TIME

VERSE:
Psalm 98:9
For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, and the peoples with equity.

REFLECTION:
Many people speak of God as a God of love. And while I agree God does love us, He is also a judge. He judges all of us by the same standards. This is an impartial love in which no partiality is shown, only equity. He judges us by righteousness through His Ten Commandments, and He judges Jews and Gentiles by that same standard. How do you match up to His standard? I have failed often. As it says in Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Many of us are familiar with court cases as we watch them on TV or read about them in the papers. However the problem with man's courts is that some people are judged less equally than others. It seems that when high profile people commit crimes, they are shown more leniency than the common person. But under God's kingdom it doesn't matter who you are or what you have done. All of us will be treated exactly the same and judged by the same standard.

The important issue is will God find you innocent or guilty? As I stated in the previous paragraph, none of us will pass His standards. We will all be found guilty. God has a right to send each of us to hell. Just like earth's courts we must either pay a fine or do some time. If we do the time we will spend eternity in hell. But someone paid our fine. Jesus died on the cross so that we don't have to do the time. But you must repent of your sins and put your trust in Jesus for that fine to be fully paid. Don't find yourself in front of God on judgment day without having that fine paid. It will be too late. Repent today and put your faith and trust in Jesus.

PRAYER:
Repent of your sins. Ask God for forgiveness. Thank God for the gift of His Son Jesus who died on the cross for your sins.