Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Matthew 26:39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."
ONLY JESUS WOULD LET SOMEONE ELSE DETERMINE HIS DESTINY
Why are arranged marriages no longer the norm? I'm sure there are a lot of reasons. I'm sure that many Christian parents would choose carefully, but today we think it inadvisable to allow someone else to chart our futures. We don't trust anyone (but ourselves) with our futures, do we? We find happiness in our freedom to go our own way, to make our own decisions (good or bad) and affect our own futures.
Would you let someone else choose your destiny--if you knew beforehand that their decisions would result in your suffering and death? Would you allow someone else to choose your future--if you knew beforehand that your life would not be lived for you, but lived and sacrificed for someone else? Well, Jesus did. Jesus let the Father determine His destiny, His future, because He knew that it was the only way you and I might have a real future. For because of sin, we had no future. We are by nature and deed sinful. Unless our sins are removed and we are reconciled to God we have no future but eternity in hell!
However, God who is rich in mercy would not let that happen! He charted our futures, and worked our Salvation through the suffering, death, and resurrection of His Son.
If we were to chart our own futures, we would have no real future. For we can by nature only choose to reject God's gift and proudly think we are good enough.
It is only by God's grace through faith that we trust in Christ and find ourselves right with God, justified. It is by faith we understand that our eternal futures are in the hands of Jesus.
Only Jesus, the Son of God, could make complete payment for your sins.
Only Jesus would let someone else determine His destiny--so that we might have an eternal future with Him.
