Occasionally when I walk into my classroom I discover little by little it has become a wastebasket. When people rip paper out of a spiral notebook small remnants of paper float to the floor like dandruff on a blue suit. Some pigs leave leftover bags and cups from Dunkin Donuts. It is amazing what grows overnight in a dark locked room. However it is not as bad as it seems. I pick up the real wastebasket and ask everyone to please clean around their desk. It usually takes less than sixty seconds for the room to look as if it had been thoroughly vacuumed.
I can only think of one other cleaning that takes less time. John wrote, “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Unfortunately just like my classroom, we once again become littered with the remnants of our characters. That used to worry me. My walk with Jesus was a legal, record-keeping experience. What if I was killed without having an opportunity to ask for forgiveness? What if I was lost for something like a scrap of paper on the floor, something I had done and not noticed and yet it was wrong? Honestly, it was not a life filled with joy. I knew something was wrong. Christianity was supposed to be a joyful experience. Something was missing.
One of the finest days of my life was the day I discovered John 5:24. Jesus said, “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” That was the day I realized salvation is NOT the product of record keeping. It is the fruit of a loving relationship with Jesus. He will not fail to forgive me instantly each time I sin not because I mentally ask but because He knows I want to be like Him. I discovered joy. I had passed from death to life.
Written by Roger Bothwell on November 6, 2009
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org