We All Fall

February 5, 2017

I took a rest day yesterday from nearly everything. So yeah, no post yesterday.

Day 35: Loving Saul To Uncover Paul:
"Ananias went and found Saul.  He laid his hands on him and said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.' Instantly something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized." —Acts 9:17-19

The lesson shared today is one I have actually thought about before.  If God were to ask me to help an evil person, would I do it? In the scripture, Ananias is one of the Christians that Saul was on his way to kill before Jesus stopped him. Would I, if I were Ananias, do as Jesus asked and help Saul regain his sight and then baptize him. I'd like to think that I would.

Dr. Anderson had the opportunity to find out if he would be like Ananias when he was asked to help a prisoner who was arrested for first-degree murder. He had confessed to the crime and the police warned Dr. Anderson that he "may be violent." Anderson admits that the incident "presented a conflict for [him]. When [he]was in high school, some very close friends of [his] were murdered in a savage attack." After the murder of his friends, he "walked away from [his] faith for many years."
Anderson prayed and then approached the man. What he found, "was a man just like [himself]—fallen and broken." Anderson understood that he was no better than the man. Even though he had never committed murder, he knew he "was capable of evil if [he] strayed from the Lord."

Anderson ends with a prayer that resonates with me: "God, it's easy for me to forget that those who've committed evil in this world are your children too. Help me not to cast judgement on them, but to pray for them to see their need for you. Use me to be a light in their world."

I have thought about the ideas expressed in this prayer on and off throughout my life.  It's on my mind currently because of our current situation in having to deal with a man who I feel is unfit to be president. His actions and the actions of his followers (those who voted for him as well as those who defend him) bring me to tears nearly everyday. I just don't see how anyone who professes to be a Christian can behave in a manner so contrary to anything I have ever known of Jesus. I see the president as evil and inhumane. I have lost respect for those who voted for him and for those who continue to defend his actions. However, I need to remember that I am no better than any of them. They are also God's children and he loves them, just as he loves me.  That's hard, but it is the truth.

God's love extends to everyone, regardless of who they are or what they have done and he is willing to forgive everything. He doesn't view sin in degrees (according to what I've been taught). A murderer is no greater sinner than someone who is prideful or someone who has lustful thoughts or haughty eyes. I have spoken to many people who have a hard time believing in a God who could forgive a murderer in his last moments of life and allow him into heaven. They just don't believe it to be fair or just. I can understand their point, but what makes us any better than anyone else? Nothing. We all fail and "fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).