All tagged sinners
Our devotional topic today is on the subject of praying everywhere, and the scripture verse we will begin with is from the second chapter of 1st Timothy. But, are we actually praying everywhere? Are we going into dangerous places, or praying with sinners in sin’s lairs or evil places where Satan has imprisoned them? Is this something we should even do? Ell, let’s explore this today.
God loved us while we were still sinners, and He sent His only begotten Son Jesus to redeem us even though we were sinful unclean people living immersed in a dark and lost world. Knowing this, how is it that we find it so hard to look at the sinners in our personal surroundings with loving eyes rather than disdain, and why is it so difficult for us to love them as God loved us… while they are yet unrepentant? Why is it that we have become comfortable in our church environment where we are surrounded by saints, and yet, are so uncomfortable when a sinner wanders in off the streets to visit a Sunday service? Have we become exclusive rather than inclusive when it comes to our faith in Jesus Christ? Perhaps we have forgotten the purpose of the Great Commission… it wasn’t meant that we should deliver the gospel to the saved, but to deliver it to the lost so that they might be saved.
When we are lifted up and standing in that spiritual high place with Jesus don’t we want to stay there forever? When we are feeling the electric thrill of faith coursing through us and every hair on our body has risen as if in unison to the breeze of God's breath, don’t we want to remain in that euphoric state always? Well of course the answer is yes, but that is not what we are meant to do. God has more for us to do.
We fail in some manner almost every day. Yet, it is so hard for us not to judge the actions of those around us, and by doing so, if it were not for the Atonement of Christ, we ourselves would be lost. Seeing, and turning our noses up at sinners is just too natural for us.
Is Jesus pleased with us as intercessors? We might pray for many who suffer, but do we find it within ourselves to pray for sinners? Do we judge when we should be praying for them? Do we only want to intercede for the righteous at the expense of the sinner? Some of us find it hard to show mercy or pray that God show His grace to a sinner, but is that what we are told to do?
When Jesus was asked why He ate with sinners and tax collectors he wasted no time in responding that He came to heal the sick, not those who are well, and He said it again in a different way so that He wouldn’t be misunderstood by saying that it was His intention to call sinners to repentance… not the righteous. If we step back from the trees so that we can see the forest we will realize that the first coming was indeed meant to destroy sin, and deal with death, but then we will find too that in His second coming He is returning to claim the righteous… those He has already healed. So if you are a sinner then repent, and if you are a believer then prepare yourself for the day He will return for you.
Do we subconsciously limit our prayers to fellow believers, and our church, then occasionally branch out to include others like our countrymen, and those of the world? We might not do this consciously, but if we actually account for our time spent in prayer it would most likely surprise us. We take a prayer list from church and diligently work our way through it, and fervently pray for those who are closest to us, but in doing this are we leaving out the sick, wounded, and the dying, who are the lost souls in a world of sin?