December 31, 2020
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So many times, the latest technology becomes a great blessing and a great curse. For example, are cell phones a blessing or a curse? Yes. It's great that I can reach anyone or they can reach me basically anytime or anywhere. And it's terrible that people can reach me anytime, anywhere. How about e-mail? Fast, efficient communication from wherever you are to wherever they are. But then there's "spam" - the email equivalent of junk mail. You can wake up to dozens of new emails, including a bunch I really don't want. But there's this button on your computer that really comes in handy. It just says "delete." If you don't like what you're getting, delete. If you don't want to keep something, delete. If you write something you decide you don't want to send, delete. One key stroke and what you don't want is gone.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Delete Button You Can't Reach."
Here's the problem. Because we live in a world where it's so easy to delete, we may start thinking we can delete things that, in fact, are not going to go away. Like the consequences of our actions for example. The payback for the things we've done wrong. The judgment of Almighty God for making ourselves number one instead of Him. There are some things you just can't delete. Delay, maybe. Delete, never.
That's guaranteed, actually, by God Himself in our word for today from the Word of God in Galatians 6:7. It's one of the laws in the universe, and no one is so smart or religious enough to escape it. God says, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." Sow corn, you'll get corn whether you want corn or not. Sow wheat, you'll get wheat. Sow sin, you'll get judgment; consequences here and eternal consequences forever.
Any farmer can tell you that you don't reap the harvest as soon as you sow the seed. But make no mistake. The harvest is delayed but it's inevitable. In the case of our disobedience toward God, the Bible spells out the harvest in these chilling words: "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). That death is life here without the God who makes life work and life after death without God in a place called hell.
There are short-term "undeletable" consequences for sin. Deceit today, discredited and un-trusted tomorrow. Indulging your lust today, scarred relationships and disgusting bondage tomorrow. Sex outside of marriage today, the real thing ruined tomorrow. Trash talk today, loss of respect and reputation tomorrow. But far worse than those consequences is the eternal death penalty that our sin carries with it. No religion on earth, and no amount of your goodness can possibly delete your sin from God's book. Only the One whose laws we've broken can delete your sin and cancel your hell. The delete button for human sin is beyond human reach.
The Bible declares our only hope in these words: "Christ carried our sins in His body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). When Jesus said "Father, forgive them" from His cross, He was including you. If you abandon all other hope of being forgiven, you pin all your hopes on Him. The Bible says He is "a God...who pardons sin" and who will "hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:18, 19). Imagine. Every sin, every wrong thing you've ever done, deleted by one stroke of God's hand because you reached out to Jesus, His Son, and you said, "Rescue me. You're my only hope, Jesus!"
Don't you want that? Well, I'd love to help you take this step into this love relationship with Jesus. Let me invite you to go to our website to get this settled. The address is ANewStory.com. It could be yours begins there.
The awful harvest for your sin was taken by Jesus on the cross, so you could make the greatest trade in the world - eternal death for eternal life.