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“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

When you are tempted to sin, how does it happen? Does a sinful thought just pop into your head (like Wouldn’t you like to taste that cookie your mother told you not to touch?)? Do you give in to temptations to sin right away, or do you try to fight sin?

Our fleshly nature can be very smart. It can invite us to sin. We tell ourselves lies about what sin can do for us, how “little” some sins can be when compared to others, and how it is fine to sin now as long as we live better later on. We can make all kinds of excuses and reasons for sinning. There is a part of each one of us that is inclined to give in to the arguments of sin. We want to be “happy,” even if not truly happy, and even if it is only for a season. And sin sells us a lie that it can bring us happiness.

When we believe the lies of the world, the flesh, and the devil, we will eventually discover that sin never brings us the good it pretends it can. Sin always brings destruction. There is an old song that goes, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go; slowly, but wholly taking control. Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay. Sin will cost you far more than you want to pay.”

On the other hand, every sinner always has an open invitation from God, and this open invitation is definitely a better one! God invites sinners to come and reason together with Him, not listen to the lies of the flesh any longer. God offers fellowship with Himself. He offers forgiveness of sin and a “clean slate” that lets us start all over again. When He declares us righteous based on Jesus Christ’s righteousness, He makes us just as if we had never even sinned in the first place.

The next time the world, the flesh, or the devil seem to be calling out to you and throwing out “good reasons” to sin, remember that Someone else is calling out to you, too. He is saying, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Really, isn’t it obvious Whose invitation is better? Isn’t it clear which invitation you ought to accept?

Unlike our enemies, God invites us to be forgiven and to become able to fellowship with Him.

My Response:
» Am I struggling lately with temptation to a particular sin?
» Am I in the habit of saying “yes” to sinful desires instead of considering what God would want?
» How can I show in my life that I believe God’s invitation is more worth accepting?

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” (Isaiah 55:8)

Jeremy Fairmont sat in the fourth pew with his family during Mr. Graham’s funeral. Mr. Graham had been Jeremy’s neighbor, his Sunday school teacher, and his friend. Jeremy was feeling very sick to his stomach and very sad in his heart. Mr. Graham’s death just didn’t make any sense at all. He had been driving his semi-truck on the highway for work, when another car’s tire suddenly blew out. The car spun around and came into his lane, and Mr. Graham had not had time to stop his truck. Jeremy did not know all the details, but he knew that Mr. Graham had died right away. He could not understand why God would let someone as wonderful as Mr. Graham die. Wasn’t God supposed to protect His people?

The people who had been in the other car were all fine. They were all Christians – in fact, they were all members of a different church on the other side of town! Jeremy knew that they had been thanking God for taking care of them during the wreck. This is what Jeremy could not understand. Why would God protect this other family of Christians on one side of the wreck, but choose not to protect Mr. Graham and not to spare his life? Jeremy knew that if Mr. Graham were alive right now, he would be praising God for protecting him, just like this other family was. So why didn’t God let Mr. Graham live? Obviously, He could have, but He just didn’t.

One reason Jeremy was so upset at Mr. Graham’s funeral was that he had lost someone he loved dearly, and who loved him back. Death is never an easy thing to deal with, but the death of Christian is still nothing like the death of an unbeliever. Jeremy did have hope that he would see Mr. Graham again one day, in heaven; but what Jeremy could not understand was why God would protect the lives of some Christians in the wreck, but not protect Mr. Graham. Mr. Graham was one of the greatest Christians Jeremy had ever known. It seemed to make better sense for God to leave people like Mr. Graham here on Earth. If there were more people like Mr. Graham in the world, Jeremy thought, the world would have to be a better place, for sure.

After the funeral, Jeremy just sat in his family’s van and cried. When the rest of the Fairmont family went inside the house, Jeremy’s dad stayed in the van with him. Together, they began to talk through what the Bible teaches about the kind of character God has. They talked about how God does not think like we think. God is all-knowing; His thoughts are higher than ours. Even the smartest human being might not ever understand some of God’s perfect reasoning. God never makes mistakes; His ways are better than our ways. God’s timing and actions are perfectly planned. Even our best dreams and wishes and plans could never come close to the perfection of God’s ways. God is loving; His affection is greater than ours. As much as we think we might love someone, and as much as we think we might know what’s best for someone – God knows better, and God definitely loves more.

Based on what he knew of Mr. Graham, Jeremy could figure out a lot of great things that Mr. Graham had done and might be able to do in the future, if he had not died in that wreck. But, based on what he knew about God, Jeremy had to admit that God knew and loved Mr. Graham far more than Jeremy could ever dream. Deep down, Jeremy knew that was true. It was not going to be easy getting used to life without Mr. Graham around. But it helped a little to trust God’s wisdom and perfection and love. Jeremy knew all those things about God in his head already, but it was a lot more difficult to learn them in his heart.

By the time Jeremy and his dad climbed out of the van, Jeremy was feeling a little better. He did not have to understand all God’s reasons for sparing the other Christian family and taking Mr. Graham home to be with Him. Jeremy knew he just needed to keep trusting and obeying God, even when it didn’t always make sense to him. Surely God – with His high wisdom and infinite love and perfect ways – surely He could more than fill up the giant hole that Mr. Graham’s homegoing had left in Jeremy’s heart. And Mr. Graham would have wanted that.

God thinks higher, loves greater, and plans more perfectly than any of us ever could.

My Response:
» Am I struggling lately with a choice that God has made?
» How do I respond when God does things that affect my life?
» How can I show in my responses that I believe God is how He says He is in His Word, and that He is worthy of my trust?

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

The little spotted brown dog leaped up through the open doors of the bus and made himself comfortable in the seat across from Sam. Sam almost fell out of his chair! Shocked, he tugged at his mother’s sleeve.

“Mom! Where’s this dog’s owner?”

“I don’t think his owner is around, Sam. I think he got on all by himself!” Mom seemed a little surprised, too.

The little dog was very well-behaved, Sam thought. He was sitting with his paws together, and he didn’t bark at all. As the bus rolled on, the little dog stared out the window or sometimes looked over at Sam.

“He’s riding for free, Mom. We had to pay for our bus fare.”

“You’re right, but I don’t think that the bus driver really cares. Now, if this dog were a human, then he would have to pay in order to ride the bus.”

The dog was looking at Sam now, and it made him a little nervous, so this time he leaned closer to his mom and just whispered. “What would happen if we tried to get on the bus without paying like that?”

“Well, Sam, I think the driver would have to ask us to get off the bus – he might never even let us get on in the first place.”

“Oh!” shouted Sam, so loudly that both Mom and the little dog seemed to jump a little in their seats. “It’s like getting into heaven, isn’t it?”

“I’m not sure what you mean, honey.”

“My Sunday school teacher was teaching from John 14 about Jesus being the only Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

Mom looked at Sam thoughtfully, and even the little dog seemed to be listening attentively.

“Yeah, Mr. Beecher said something about getting ‘admitted’ or ‘let in’ to heaven. He said that Jesus is the only Way God can let us into heaven, because we’re not allowed to get there on our own.”

Mom nodded. “That’s true. We’re not allowed to, and we’re not able to, either.” She pointed at the little dog seated across from them. “This dog is smart enough and quick enough to hitch a free ride on the bus, isn’t he? But we don’t have the freedom or the ability to wash ourselves clean enough of sin. We can’t even buy our way into heaven with a ticket. We just have to trust Christ to take us there. His righteousness and power are enough to cover for all that we don’t have. Jesus Christ is our only ‘valid,’ or ‘acceptable,’ way of gaining entrance into God’s heaven.”

“So that means that I have to trust and obey Jesus, because He is the only One Who can help me come to God, like it says in John 14.” Sam smiled over at the little spotted dog. “I bet he didn’t know he was going to help explain a Sunday school lesson to me today.”

As the bus came to their street, Mom and Sam stood up. As they walked toward the door. Sam reached out his hand to pet the dog’s head. “Good dog!”

Through Jesus Christ, and only through Him, we can gain entrance into God’s heaven.

My Response:
» Do I really believe that Jesus Christ is the only Way, the Truth, and the Life?
» Am I tempted sometimes to trust in my own good works or my own understanding to help me please God?
» How can I show by my life that I am trusting in Christ’s righteousness and power to help me?

“But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” (James 3:8)

Sometimes, we say things we wish we hadn’t said. It may be to a friend, or mother, father, sister, brother – or maybe even to someone we don’t even know.

There is an old saying that goes like this: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” This isn’t true! Physically, sticks and stones can hurt you if someone throws them at you. You will probably recover from the injury. But when someone says something that hurts your feelings, an emotional recovery isn’t always as easy as a physical recovery. You may be able to forgive someone who has been unkind to you, and this is what God wants you to do – but forgetting is almost impossible to do. No matter how old you get, there will be times when you will remember how you felt when someone hurt you by unkind words or actions.

We are taught in James 3 that our “tongues” can harm others. Sometimes you may want to say something against another person because you are angry and you “want to get even.” What should you say when you are feeling unkind toward someone? Probably nothing!

Years ago a man named Ollie lived in a country village. He said something hurtful about a friend of his because he had made him angry. The gossip spread throughout the neighborhoods, and it wasn’t long before Ollie’s friend became the talk of the town. Ollie apologized to his friend, but he did something more – something that is hard for us to believe: Ollie never talked again!

From that day on, Ollie kept a small pad of paper and pencil that he kept with him at all times. When he wanted to say something, he wrote it down. Did he speak when he was at home? No one knows. No one ever heard Ollie say a word to anyone again in public.

It is probably not necessary to do something as drastic and extreme as not talking at all. But it shows us how seriously Ollie considered his sin, and how seriously he was learning to consider his friends. He did not want to harm anyone else the same way he had harmed his friend. To him, if never speaking again meant he would never hurt his friend with unkind words again, it was worth it to Ollie.

Another common saying goes like this: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” If you are having a hard time controlling your tongue and being kind in your words, you might try humbling yourself and shutting your mouth. It is humbling to admit that “the tongue can no man tame” and that your tongue is just as difficult to control as anyone else’s. Admit that you have to keep a close guard over your mouth – maybe just be quiet – and pray for the Lord to help you. Jesus Christ was 100% man and yet 100% God. He is the only Man Who ever lived perfectly, and He is strong enough to help you be kind with your words.

God expects and enables us to speak kind words.

My Response:
» Do I have trouble controlling my tongue?
» How important is it to me to make sure I speak kindly about other people?
» Am I relying on God to help me be as kind as He commands me to be?