“At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.” Colossians 1:20-23 MSG
Ever turn your back on someone? Pretend to not see them? Snub their very presence?
That’s what we did to God. Total jerks. Rebellious spirits. Trouble makers.
Meanwhile, while we were off doing our own self-centered stuff, Jesus stepped out of eternity into time to die on the cross for us so that we could have a relationship with God, the Father.
Jesus, alone, made a way for us. He is the only One that could accomplish making us whole and holy. And it took the shedding of His blood for the remission of our sins. Nothing and no one else could do that.
So what should our response be? A total outpouring of a grateful heart. What a gift! Nothing we could do for ourselves. Jesus plucked us out of our muck and mire, set us on steady ground desiring our complete attention on Him.
That means our focus must not waver. Don’t look to the left or right. Just straight ahead trusting what He says in His Word.
And that means we need to be in His Word…non-negotiable face-to-face time with Jesus. That’s the least we can do after all He has done for us.
Since there is only one Message, one Word of God, the BIBLE, we should not get confused and go sniffing around for something else.
“Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.” He doesn’t want us to go looking for another “message”. There’s only one way to God the Father and that is through His Son, Jesus. (John 14:6 reminds us of that.)
I love how God keeps it so simple. One God. One Message. One way through Jesus. Accept the gift. Stay on track. Become whole and holy. Keep trusting Him.
