Key Verse:
It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 1 Corinthians 3:7 (NLT)
What do all Major League Baseball players have in common? Each one received an offer to play for a team in the league. They all chose to accept The Offer they were given.
There’s a spiritual parallel. The Bible tells us God draws us and grows our desire to be Jesus-followers. And Jesus-followers telling others about the Good News of Jesus is all part of His plan.
You may be asking, “What’s the Good News?”
In a nutshell? Jesus is The Good News.
Why? Jesus is the One who bridges the gap between our sinfulness and God’s holiness. Jesus is the only way our relationship with God can be restored.
You’re probably wondering why the relationship was broken. Long ago, doubt in God’s word being right and His character being good grew into the first act of disobedience. That was the day sin came into the world and infected all mankind. Sin created separation between us and God because holiness and sinfulness cannot co-exist. (You can read all about God, creation, and the first sin in the first three chapters of Genesis.)
Jesus is God in the flesh. Yes! God clothed Himself in flesh and subjected Himself to the limitations of the flesh. But Jesus also had the same Holy Spirit every single Jesus-follower is given at the time of our salvation.
Salvation? What am I talking about? Okay, Jesus left His kingdom, came to earth and lived a sinless life in the flesh, willingly died a gruesome and undeserved death on a cruel Roman cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and was resurrected again on the third day. The death and burial of Jesus removed the barrier of sin. His resurrection overcame the power of death which is the final penalty for sin.
Salvation is freedom from sin and its penalty.
All people sin, so there’s no finger pointing here. Jesus is the only person who has never sinned.
Jesus paid the wages of sin for everyone. Forgiveness of sins is a done deal, but we have to take what’s been so freely given. We cannot earn our salvation. But, we can choose to believe Jesus earned our salvation for us, and then live the rest of our lives by faith.
If you haven’t already accepted The Offer, you don’t have to wait for a “right” time. You can accept The Offer right now! The Bible is clear…
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. Romans 10:9-10 (NLT)
If you just accepted The Offer of salvation through Jesus, CONGRATULATIONS!
With your acceptance, you’ve been given the promise of new life. Yes! It’s true! A life lived by faith in Jesus creates change in us.
Believing in and following Jesus brings with it a progressive change in our thoughts and actions. Why? What we believe will always influence our choices and changed choices create changed lives. The changes may be less noticeable in the beginning, but no worries; change will come.
Let’s stop there for today. We’ll take a deeper look at living a life of faith and change next week.
Between Then and Now:
1 Read the books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Bible. If you’re not familiar with the Bible, these are the first four books in the New Testament and their location is listed in the Table of Contents. These four books are called the Gospels because they’re about the life of Jesus.
2 If have not already accepted The Offer of salvation through Jesus, what’s holding you back? This is not a rhetorical question…formulating your answer will bring clarity to your questions or concerns about Jesus and salvation.
3 If you have accepted The Offer, why did you? Again, this is not a rhetorical question…formulating your answer will bring added clarity for those times when you’re the one sharing the Good News of Jesus with others.
A word of caution: Don’t get hung up on a prescribed timeline. In baseball, it may take someone until their high school or college years before they discover their love of the game. That’s why today’s verse is important. The Good News of Jesus is like a seed planted. It’s not a comparison game of how long ago the seed was planted or how few or how many people nurtured the seed. It’s about the seed being planted so it can grow. God will complete the work ! Just know…God has not forgotten you or the one you love. He hears all your prayers, and He wants them to accept His Offer of salvation even more than you do.
Digging Deeper:
Jeremiah 29:13, Luke 19:10, John 1:1-18, John 3:16-17, John 6:44, John 14:6 & 15-21, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:9-13, 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 5:16 & 22-25, Ephesians 2:8-10, Thessalonians 4:13-18, & Hebrews 11:1
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Good words. I’m so glad I accepted His offer.