The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year:
About 2,000 years ago, this chick was caught either cheating on her husband, helping someone cheat on their wife, or possibly both. And "caught" doesn't mean people found out about it later. Rather, the most successful people of that time walked in on her and pulled her out into the middle of the streets for everyone to see who she really was and what she had done. The punishment for adultery in that time period was to be stoned. So, all the authorities gathered around her. Seeing Jesus, the authorities decided to include Him in on what was going down. And then this happened:
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”
“No one, Master.”
“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”
(John 8, MSG)
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Okay, so plot twist.
The woman gives Jesus a confused look, shakes her head, and calls back to the men who had wanted to kill her, "Hey! Where are you going? Come back here! I just committed adultery and so you're supposed to stone me. That's the way we do things."
What a dummy. Right?
But isn't that what we do?
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We think things have to be "fair" before we get to know Jesus. We have this mind set that because we struggle with a drug addiction or a sex addiction or a lying addiction that we are going to get lit on fire the second we walk into a church. So, we try and try to get to the point where we are "good" so that maybe if we talk to God He will listen.
The problem is, we never get "good".
We spend night after night tossing and turning because once again we've fallen to the same sin that has caught us every time. And we think we are going to go crazy, because the second we get to the point where we think, "Okay, things are going good. I'm going to try to pray tonight," we turn around and mess it up again.
We can't get clean without Him. But we don't think we're clean enough to go to Him.
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But think about this.
If the women would have gotten rid of her sin her way, she'd be dead.
Jesus saw her, and saw there was no way she could have a relationship with Him. If she tried to do it without Him.
So He went up, and in the midst of her darkest moment, told her she was forgiven. And the funny thing is, He knew more about her sins than any of the guys ready to stone her. He knew everything. But He didn't care. All He knew was that He loved her so much and wanted her to have the opportunity to know that.
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This is us. This is Christmas.
God knows our darkest. He knows our weaknesses. He is familiar with all of our habits and ways. And He knows we are hopeless without Him. And so He sends Jesus.
The reason this is the most wonderful time of the year is because it represents what Jesus did when He crouched down and wrote in that dirt. It represents Him coming to the rescue.
So, if you are at that point where you feel you are never going to be able to enter a church or pray to God or be good enough, you are absolutely right and absolutely wrong.
Truth, you won't be good enough.
Truth, you don't have to be.
This Christmas, I challenge you to do what I imagine that woman did. She didn't try to hide from Jesus who she was. She didn't run away, put her clothes back on, and come back and try to pretend to be someone different. She stood in awe of grace that was greater than her worst sin. And she accepted it. She accepted the fact that she was sinful, and then accepted the fact that Jesus was going to take care of it.
If you only know about Jesus, but don't know Him, find someone who can introduce you. Try out a church. Talk to someone who does know Him. Download a Bible app and read Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. Doesn't matter which. I personally like Luke. But they all rock.
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A week or two ago I was really thinking about relationships. And I remembered that the best ones I ever had were ones where the communication was just super, super honest. I've had some pretty raw conversations and gone through quite a few tears, but I always preferred the people who would be real and genuine with me than those who tried to hide stuff to seem perfect.
It was a few nights ago that God whispered to me, "Why would I want anything different?"
God loves you. Anything that screams something different is a lie. He's not worried about you being perfect; that's why He sent Jesus. He's more worried about you trying to fix the mess yourself. Because He knows it's not going to get you anywhere. (And probably deep down, you know that too.)
So, have hope. Know Christ. Be honest with God. Tell Him your thoughts, your fears, your sins, and your life. Read the Bible and get to know Him. Talk to other Christians and get to know them. And find your life, once you lay down all the goals and failed attempts and pretend crap.
Merry Christmas to all. And to all a good night.
