Rom 3:23

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Rom 3:23

I had done my best, honest. I had worked that clay just like the teacher said. I turned it just so. I rolled it just right. I shaped it and formed it and . . .well I don't understand why she didn't like my pottery. Sure, it didn't look like hers. She was 75 or 80 and I was 10 (well at 10 anyone over 20 is ancient!). She had an edge on experience. How humiliating to get a "D" in art! And my English at that age was just as bad!

I had missed the mark - fallen short - I had sinned by not being able to meet my art teacher's expectations.

We've all done that - missed the mark. We most likely do it every day. We set goals for ourselves and don't get them all finished. We missed the mark. The boss tells us to get this done before we go home - and we fail. We missed the mark. We have sinned. Now don't get me wrong. These are not life threatening "sins" - at least most of them aren't. But they are "sins" none the less. But there are more important "sins" that we must consider - we have all committed our share of them.

We have missed God's idea of perfection. He says "do not lie", and we have all told lies in the past. He gives us a list of 10 things that we should not do - or do. We have failed in more than one. But let's imagine for a moment that there is some wonderful person out there who has managed to sin only one time. "That's wonderful" you may say. And indeed it would be. But there is only one problem. One sin is as bad as a hundred - or a thousand - or a million. That one sin will keep that near sinless guy out of heaven. Why? Because God set the standard - and He set it high.

"Then no one can get to heaven! Right?" It would seem like that - until we understand that Jesus is standing between you (and me) and God. If we have accepted Him as our Lord and our Savior, He will speak to the Judging Father and say something like this, "Daddy, this man is indeed a sinner. However, at the age of 10 he accepted Me as his Lord. He has been washed in My blood. I have redeemed him. Therefore he stands before you spotless - sinless. You must accept Him into Heaven." And the Father will look beyond Jesus, and say to us, "Well done. You are a good and faithful servant. Enter into your reward!"

But, if you haven't put your trust in Jesus. If you have rebelled against God and have rejected His provision for salvation, no amount of good works on your part will change the words of the Father as He speaks "You are unworthy of the kingdom of God. You have not taken advantage of My provision for your purity. You shall not enter into this perfect world. Instead, you must spend all of eternity in hell." If this latter describes your current condition, admit that you are a sinner. Call upon Jesus to save you. I don't want to spend an eternity without ever meeting you in Heaven. Amen and Amen.