Everything has consequences and even ignorance can lead to trouble.
Take, for example, not locking car doors when exploring the backwoods.
In Colorado someone just did that. To make matters worse, that someone
left a peanut butter sandwich and a deodorant stick on his back seat.
Guess who likes peanut butter sandwiches and possibly even deodorant
sticks? You are so right: black bears!
Somehow a black bear
sniffed the odor of that sweet-smelling peanut butter sandwich, and to
his delight, he found out that the vehicle containing it was not even
locked! Somehow that bear succeeded in opening one of the cars door. And
why not? With such motivation in sight!
The bear was able to eat
his sandwich inside the car, but once finished, he found himself somehow
locked inside that vehicle. To make matters worse, he accidentally
shifted the car into neutral, which caused the car to start rolling down
the hill. In the end the bear was trapped inside that vehicle for more
than two hours, and no other peanut butter sandwiches were to be found.
You can imagine that he was not in a very good mood!
But neither
was the owner of that vehicle!
Ralph found his Toyota Truck
smashed at the bottom of the hill. He had to enlist the help of the
rangers to release the bear, but once he could inspect his truck, he
found the interior completely destroyed. That's what happens when an
angry bear finds himself in a locked car! I suspect that Ralph will be
more careful about locking his car in the future! After all, he did
learn that everything has consequences, even ignorance!
We, too,
have to confront the consequences of our own sins, but with that in
mind, I need to ask you: Are you righteous?
This is quite an
interesting question and most people would immediately answer "No"!
So, you don't think so? Yeah, we indeed have all fallen short of the
glory of God, even when we ignore the fact that we have done so.
Amazingly though, God sees us as being righteous!
How is that
possible?
Just like a bear that is attracted to sweet-smelling
peanut butter sandwiches, God is attracted to each one of us. He loves
us so deeply that He devised a plan to save us, even though we are the
ones who had wandered away from Him!
We are righteous, not by our
own merits, even though at times we may tend to think very highly of
ourselves, but through the sacrifice Jesus has bestowed on us, a
selfless sacrifice that took his life away. He died on a cross, nailing
our sins on that self-same cross. All of our sins. From the past, from
the present, and even from the future have been buried for good,
forgiven by the Most High Himself! Amazing but true!
Three days
later Jesus rose from the tomb, guaranteeing that we are truly forgiven
and are now completely justified in the eyes of our loving Heavenly
Father. Faith in the One who paid the price truly pays off. Thanks to
Him, we now stand righteous in the eyes of the Lord. Righteous! Can we
believe that!
No effort of ourselves would ever qualify for such
a designation. It's all thanks to Jesus, Jesus our Saviour, Jesus our
Redeemer. Jesus who justifies us, even though we really don't deserve
it. He is the One who truly loves us.
Even though we may still
fall at times, we are no more attracted to the smelly, disgusting
sin-plastered sandwich. Why? Because we have discovered that our
Heavenly Daddy loves us unimaginably!
Where did I leave my peanut
butter sandwich? I better make sure my car is locked! Who knows what
could happen!
Rob Chaffart
Sweet-Smelling Peanut Butter Sandwich. Radical Grace from the Book of Romans (4:23-25)
Today's Bible Verse:
"The words 'it was credited to him' were written not for him alone,
but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness-for us who
believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered
over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our
justification." (Romans 4:23-25, NIV2)
Sweet-Smelling Peanut Butter Sandwich. Radical Grace from the Book of Romans (4:23-25)
Announcement:
Do you know any facebook fans? Why not invite them to visit Answers2Prayer on Facebook! This is their opportunity to discover that our Heavenly Father truly cares for them, and that Jesus is not only their Saviour by their friend as well!
The Illustrator and the Nugget have joined forces and are now on Facebook under the name Answers2Prayer. This group is dedicated to bringing people closer to our loving God through daily thought-provoking devotionals and inspirational stories.
Invite them to join us.
As always, this is a free. Our goal is to help your friends and family make Jesus their focus!
- This mailing list is a public mailing list - anyone may join or leave, at any time.
-
This mailing list is announce-only.
This newsletter is dedicated to bringing people closer to the Lord through thought-provoking inspirational stories. It is published every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Privacy Policy:
Our Privacy policy
We will never share, sell, or rent your individual personal information and email address with anyone without your advance permission or unless ordered by a court of law.
How can you stop receiving our newsletters?
Each newsletter sent contains an easy, automated way for you to cease receiving our newsletter. If you wish to do this, simply follow the instructions at the end of any newsletter.
If you have received unwanted, unsolicited email sent via this system or purporting to be sent via this system, please forward a copy of that email with your comments to webmaster@answers2prayer.org for review.