Friday, December 15, 2006
We attended a concert, only to learn that it was being taped for later use as a TV program. The host introduced two other men who were going to sing with him, the accompaniment track started up, and they launched into the song, cameras were rolling. I'm not sure what the problem was, but they weren't all singing the same song, and that's a problem! Oops! The host stopped the song, looked up at the control booth, and he said, "Guys, let's start that one over." You'll never see that on TV. Then he said to the audience, "Good thing this is taped, not live." He was right. I've done plenty of live radio, and I want you to know, live is unforgiving. You blow it, you blew it!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Do-Overs."
Too bad our lives aren't taped, huh? We could go back and do it over and get it right this time. But we're all doing a live performance. If you blow it, you blew it. We can't take those words back, no matter how much they hurt someone we love. We can't undo what we did sexually, or in anger, we can't take back the lies we told, we can't undo the wounds we've left, the people we've hurt. We said it, we did it, and there's no rewinding the tape to do it over.
Actually, our live performance is being recorded - by God. Every mistake, every sin goes into, what they used to call in school, your "permanent record," except it doesn't have to be permanent. All the record of all your sins can be destroyed forever. If they're not, you have no chance with God. You have no chance of ever seeing heaven.
But there is incredible good news for all of us in our word for today from the Word of God. Acts 10:43 is talking about Jesus Christ, and it says, "Everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name." No, there is no do-over, but there is the possibility of having every sin you've ever committed erased from God's records forever, because of what Jesus did.
The Bible talks about what He did when it says, "Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness" ( Hebrews 9:22). The ancient Jews understood that. They sacrificed lambs to pay, as their substitute, the death penalty for breaking God's laws. All the wrong things we've done carry an eternal death penalty. The Bible calls it hell. They cannot be erased. Our damning personal record cannot be removed unless that penalty is paid, and someone has to die for your sins to be paid for.
And someone did - the only One who could. The only One who didn't have any sin of His own to pay for - Jesus. The Bible actually says Jesus came "to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself" ( Hebrews 9:26). When He was dying on that cross, He was loving you enough to do your hell for you. You have no hope of being clean inside, no hope of heaven without being forgiven for all your sin. And there's no forgiveness unless you give yourself to Jesus, the One whose blood was shed to pay for those sins.
If you're ready to be forgiven, if you're ready to be clean, then you are ready to put your trust in Jesus to be your personal Savior from your personal sins. Tell Him you're giving yourself to Him. As soon as you can, get to a place alone and say, "Jesus, I deserve the penalty for taking my life out of God's hands and running it myself. But thank You for paying that penalty because You love me. Beginning today, I turn my back on the junk of my life, and place my arms totally around You as my only hope."
We'd love to help you get started with Jesus and to know you are fully forgiven this very day. That's why I want to invite you to go to our website. It's yoursforlife.net. Go there right away, would you? I think we can help you get started with Jesus. Or you can call for my booklet, "Yours For Life," at 877-741-1200.
There's not a sin you've ever done that Jesus didn't pay for when He died. Today, He's ready to destroy all the record, all your sins, and give you a brand new beginning.