Lent Week Three—Monday
Psalm 77 Jeremiah 7:1-15 Romans 4:1-12 John 7:14-36
Paul’s letter to the Romans talks about how we live under grace now that Jesus has died and risen and how we no longer live under the law. Before Jesus, the Jewish people were required to obey the law and slaughter animals as a sacrifice for their sins. But Jesus changed all that. He became the sacrifice for our sins so that everyone could be with God. This is the core of the Gospel, but for a long time, it was really hard for me to understand.
I think it’s a normal human feeling to think that nothing is free in the world and that if we want something, we have to earn it. How is it that God is already with me when I’ve done nothing to deserve Him? Surely, I have to do all these good works to earn His love. But God is not something of this world. Putting our salvation in our own hands inevitably leads to darkness and sadness. We will always fall short. The power of sin is stronger than us.
When I finally accepted that God is here for me whether I want Him to be or not, it changed everything. I went from thinking “Am I checking all the boxes so that I can get to God?” to “Am I doing my best to live with Him every day?” It changed how I saw God in relation to my life. He went from feeling very far away to living with me through all things good and bad.
Paul reminds us that our salvation through Jesus’ death does not allow us to turn back to sin. God is faithful. His love for us doesn’t change, but we have to choose Him. By truly making a choice to live for God, our hearts change and so our lives change.
Tara Jones
The Carpenter's Nail 