When she was twenty months old, my oldest daughter received a Fisher-Price Little People Noah’s Ark set for Christmas. My sister bought it for her, and she bought not only the original ark set, but also all the extra sets of animals that went with it. So Ellie wound up with the ark, a flag to go on top, and twelve pairs of animals.
The ark came in two pieces. The top piece included the little shelter on the upper deck of the ark, and the deck itself. The bottom piece was the “boat” part, into which Ellie could put all the animals. The two pieces clicked together, and they came apart by means of pushing a little catch under the upper deck. For a long while, Ellie had trouble getting the pieces apart so she could get the animals out.
One day, she brought me the ark, wanting me to open it for her. I pushed the little red button, and the pieces came apart. I handed them to her, loosened from each other but still put together in an ark shape, so she could have the pleasure of succeeding at taking the roof off by herself.
Only…she dropped it, and twenty-four animals spilled all over the floor. “Uh-oh,” Ellie said, and looked at me.
You’ve had that kind of moment—when your child looks at you, waiting for your reaction so that she knows how to react. I admit that I’ve blown it sometimes in those moments, but this time, I got it right. “Oops!” I said in a funny voice, making a silly facial expression. Ellie grinned, and the whole thing became funny.
How easily it could have been different. If I had sighed, and said, “Oh, Ellie,” with a disgusted tone in my voice, she probably would have cried. (Yes, I’ve done that before.) If I had said nothing and simply bit my lip, or maybe rolled my eyes, she would have known I was angry. (I’ve done that, too.) But this time, I reacted appropriately, recognizing the situation for what it was—an accident, and potentially funny—and handled it that way. That allowed Ellie to laugh, too, and we now have a good memory instead of a bad one.
Aren’t you glad God always reacts rightly to the things we do? He never overreacts. He never reacts inappropriately, such as becoming angry when anger isn’t the best response. He always responds in the way that is completely right, considering what it was we did, and how that fits into His plans for us.
God will know when what we did was an accident, and He will react appropriately. That means He won’t condemn us for it. He may need to teach us something so it doesn’t happen again, or He may want us to realize the seriousness of our mistake. But He won’t condemn us.
God also knows when what we do constitutes sin. He is well aware of it when we deliberately disobey and choose to do something we know full well we shouldn’t do. During those times, He also reacts appropriately, to secure our repentance and better conform us to the likeness of His Son. But He doesn’t condemn us.
What? Not even when we sin?
Not even then. You see, for those of us who are Christians, Someone has already been condemned for our sins. Instead of condemning us, which we would have richly deserved, God chose to condemn His perfectly righteous Son. In His holiness, God had to punish our sins. But in His infinite love and mercy, He chose to punish Jesus instead of us.
Friend, when you snapped at your children and deserved to be punished, God didn’t punish you, because He had already punished Christ in your place.
When you harbored resentment in your heart against your husband and deserved to be punished, you escaped punishment because Jesus already got what you had coming to you.
When you…well, fill in the blank with anything you’ve done, and realize that the reason God didn’t punish you for it was because Jesus already took what you deserved.
So if you’ve made a mistake…come to God. He won’t condemn you. He knows it was a mistake. He doesn’t expect you to be perfect, in the sense of never making an honest mistake.
If you’ve sinned…come to God. He still won’t condemn you. Why? Because all the condemnation you and I ever deserved, He heaped upon Jesus as Jesus was dying for us on the cross.
If you’ve sinned a LOT (and who of us hasn’t?)…if you think that God can never forgive you for one sin, or for many…if you just don’t know how to make life right anymore…if you’ve given up…come to God. Admit what you’ve done. (Remember, He already knows it anyway.) Tell Him you’re sorry. Then, receive His merciful, all-sufficient forgiveness. If you’ve never done this before, and you know you need to do it, there’s a section on this website, “How to Know God”, that can help you. Or call a pastor. Or a trusted friend who’s a Christian. Or e-mail me through this site. But get right with God today. It’s the only decision you can ever make that there’s no possibility of regretting.
Friend, will you allow me to pray with you now? Whether or not you’ve already accepted Christ? Whatever your sins may be, or have been?
Oh, precious heavenly Father, thank You. Thank You that you don’t give any of us what we deserve, but that instead, you shower us with your unlimited mercy. Thank you, precious Jesus, that you were willing to die in our place, taking the condemnation we deserved, so that we didn’t have to. Oh, Lord, if anyone reading this doesn’t know You, I pray that You will bring them to know You. I also pray for my precious sisters in Christ and ask You to encourage their souls with the truth of Your forgiveness and mercy. I thank You, and I praise You, for your kindness and goodness. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Romans 8:1—Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:21—God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1 John 1:9—If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness.