John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
There is a story of a woman who fell on hard times and fell behind in her rent. This came to the attention of a local church who decided they would do something to help her out.
And so one Sunday morning they took up a special offering, and raised enough money to pay all the woman’s arrears, and give her a fresh start.
But when the pastor arrived on her doorstep with the good news and rang the doorbell, there was no answer. He knocked on the door thinking that the doorbell might be broken, but there still wasn’t an answer.
He went around to the side of the house and banged on one of the windowpanes, but still there was no answer, and so the pastor went home.
Now, here is the sad part of this story…the woman was home all along, but she was afraid to answer the door because she thought it might be the sheriff coming to evict her.
Sadly, there are a lot of people like that woman in Kitimat. Life has battered and bruised them, they have been betrayed by loved ones and think that every gift comes with strings attached.
And so they hunker down, close the blinds and refuse to open the door of their heart.
Maybe you are that person. Maybe you have locked yourself behind walls of isolation; maybe you have bitterness in your heart, or are so wracked with guilt for past misdeeds that you are afraid to even entertain the idea that someone would love and care for you enough that they would be willing to sacrifice themselves so that your old debts could be cleaned up and you could receive a fresh start.
If that is you, then God has a message for you from His Word today. No matter what you have done in the past, no matter long the list of debts is that you owe God on account of sin, those debts can be forgiven and you can receive a fresh start.
Because God loves us and gave us His Son Jesus Christ…and because Jesus willingly suffered and died as the substitute for us on the cross, all who confess their sins, and believe in Him as their Lord and Savior will be forgiven and receive eternal life in heaven; no strings attached.
Friends, Jesus isn’t knocking at the door of your heart because He wants to punish you.
The next verse John 3:17 says, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
He doesn’t want to evict you; He wants to invite you out into the light.
If you take anything away from this article take this: God loves you and He wants to save you for all eternity; He proved it by giving us His Son Jesus Christ.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but receive eternal life”…amen.
Clint Magnus is pastor at the Kitimat Redeemer Lutheran Church