How not knowing my sins are forgiven cost me …
This is a long story but I request that you read through it because it’s pivotal to the point that I’m making.
I remember while in Primary school being in a bad financial situation and praying to God for an ‘opportunity’ to pick money. I prayed this prayer every night for about three nights in a row before one unsuspecting afternoon, as I was walking around the compound, I came across 5,000 shillings (slightly more than 1 dollar). I knew deep in my heart that was an answer to my prayers.
A few moments later, a classmate asked me if I’d picked money. I asked for the amount, and he said the exact amount that I’d picked, to which I confidently and unashamedly replied that I hadn’t.
Don’t judge me :)
I just want to say that back then 5,000 shillings to a primary student was a big deal, and by withholding this money from the rightful owner I was setting him up for a whole month of hardship before his parents would come to visit. Needless to point out, I still didn’t give him the money because I believed that ‘God had answered my prayers’.
Fast forward one month and my financial situation has changed. I had 18,000 shillings which is like a million dollars to a primary student. I put it in my case, and the following morning, I noticed one of my dorm mates had helped himself to 7,000 shillings without my permission, aka stolen it. Immediately I remembered the incident where I’d picked money and declined to return it to the owner, and I thought God was punishing me. I could have changed the location of the remaining money but I didn’t because I thought it was a punishment from God. So I left it and surely the culprit came back and helped himself to the remainder, and I believed it was God’s punishment towards me. Not knowing God’s love for me, made me lose all that money. I would have made wiser decisions and probably more loving decisions if I had known God’s love for me.
Let’s read some scripture before we go on.
Hebrews 10:14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
There are two important points that I’d like to make from that scripture.
- For by one sacrifice.
Which sacrifice are we talking about? The one that He made 2,000 years ago on the cross. If you’re reading this and haven’t traveled through time, chances are you weren’t alive two thousand years ago. If the sacrifice that Jesus made was only for past sins, as many seem to believe, then we can’t be born again, and should not even try to live a righteous life because there is no hope for us. We should make all the wrong decisions that we can make, and at least ‘enjoy’ our life for now as we wait for eternal damnation. Luckily God is not limited by time and space, and that’s why He’s God, and a sacrifice that He made 2,000 years ago is still valid for eternity. So by extension, even the sins that you haven’t committed yet are covered by the blood of Christ. I’m not saying to go and commit all the sins that your financial situation will allow you to, but that even if you did, it’s still covered. How awesome is that? That’s the good news of the Gospel; that Jesus took the punishment that we deserved, and gave us His righteousness as a free gift.
2. As a Christian you’ve been perfected forever.
The second point is that as Christians we’ve been perfected forever. We are not in the process of being perfected. We have already been perfected. We don’t lose that perfection when we sin. We don’t lose that perfection when we don’t read our bible. We don’t lose that perfection when we don’t tithe. We don’t lose that perfection when we commit adultery. I’m not saying we should do all this, but this perfection is dependent on what Jesus did on the cross, and nothing we can do or not do can take that sacrifice, and perfection away.
I punished myself for not knowing this truth. I do not approve of the act that I did, but knowing God’s love for me could have saved me a lot of money. Many people are punishing themselves, and can’t receive God’s goodness because they think God is punishing them, and yet they are punishing themselves.
A prayer to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
The complete forgiveness of sins is only available for those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Everyone else will have to account for their sins when they go and be with the Lord. I’d like to encourage you to make Jesus the Lord of your life ff you haven’t already. If you feel convicted to make Jesus the Lord of your life, please say the this prayer:
‘Lord Jesus. Today I give you my life, and I recieve your life and your payment for my sin. I recieve you as my Lord and Savior. Take my life and do somehing significant with it.’
