Nourishment For Your Spirit
Imagine that you are starving-gone without food for a week or more.
-think about how that would feel…the longing, the pain.
This is an image of the repentant heart Willie talked about last week.
- Get to a point in life when you realize something is wrong. Realize you are guilty of sin against God…hurting yourself and people around you. Essential starting point to really seeking God.
- In fact, most people-Christian or not, can recognize that there is something wrong in the world…and that we are all guilty to some extent. Many religions-including Christianity-are based upon dealing with that guilt.
- What do you do with the guilt? What do we when we truly repent of the things we’ve done? Creates a hunger in us to make a change…to make things right.
Go back to the image of starving-realize something is wrong and want to do something about it. Say you happen upon a restaurant. They offer the best tasting, most fulfilling food you can imagine. This is just what you need to satisfy your hunger…Only problem is that you have no money-can’t afford it.
- Some would look at this situation and just give up. There say there is no hope and try to live with the hunger.
o In the same way, some people who realize their own guilt-who truly repent-or want to turn away from their sins-say there is no hope for a change. They try to live carrying the burden of that guilt. Eventually, they learn to ignore it and say, “That’s just the way I am.”
- Some would say, “OK, I can figure this out. There must be something I can do.” They knock on the door of the restaurant and ask the owner, “What can I do to earn some money or food?” Many of those owners will then give them a bunch of things to do…you can wash dishes, or clean tables, or walk around advertising for the restaurant…there are all kinds of things you can do to earn your way.
- In time you begin to earn enough for a little food. It’s not enough to really fill you up, though, so you keep working…you continue to work for the restaurant, earning small meals here and there that keep you alive and active, but, if you stopped to think about it, you’d realize that they never fully satisfy you.
o This is the same thing that happens to many who turn to God with repentant hearts. They find “religion” It might be any one of the religions the world has to offer, and it can even happen in a Christian church. The person finds there a list of rules they can follow. Things they can do to earn their way into God’s good graces. Ways they can make up for their mistakes and prove their worth.
o If they are paying attention, though, they realize in time that it’s not helping. They may feel as though they’ve worked off some of the guilt for their past sins, but you never feel fully forgiven/that the debt is paid off. In addition, you continue to sin...so now you have to work off the guilt of that sin. It’s a vicious cycle that continues for a lifetime. You can never be certain that you’ve ever done enough to fully satisfy that hunger to make things right and be forgiven.
- Let me tell…this trap is even prevalent among Christians. Even a well-meaning, Bible-based Christian church can come across as the kind of place where you need to keep proving yourself to God. But if that is what Christianity is about, then we are no different than any other religion. We might just have a different set of rules.
- This attitude has been present since the very beginning of the church. The apostle Paul couldn’t stand this attitude. Some of the harshest comments in his writings are against those who said that becoming a Christian was about obeying all the rules.
- In Galatians 5:1 has says…
- Continue reading 5:2-4. It’s this grace he mentions that is the key difference between biblical Christianity and any other form of religion.
Let’s illustrate this difference with our restaurant example again. So here you are, starving, not sure what to do about it. You see a restaurant off in the distance. You start walking toward it, ready to do whatever it takes to get a meal. No sooner do you start walking than a man comes up to you and says, “There you are! Thank goodness you decided to come. I’ve been waiting for you.” He walks with you excitedly to the restaurant and takes you inside. He sits you down at a nice table and says, “Here you go, I have a place prepared just for you.”
You notice the prices on the menu and quickly begin to excuse yourself. “I can’t afford this. Maybe there is something I can do to …
If lost hope…trying to earn way…sought other religions/religious practices…I want you to hear this message today. God offers you true fulfillment…forgiveness/justification …for free