UNLESS YOU REPENT
Posted by: spiritualdigest <spiritualdigest@...>
UNLESS YOU REPENT
"Now there were some present at that time who told
Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed
with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, 'Do you think
that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the
other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell
you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all
perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in
Siloam fell on them -- do you think they were more
guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell
you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all
perish'" (Luke 13:1-5, NIV).
On December 26, 2004, an Indian Ocean earthquake
triggered a series of tsunamis wreaking unprecedented
havoc on about 10 countries. These catastrophic waves
that swept across the Indian Ocean have claimed the
lives of over 155,000 people, and rendered millions of
people homeless while the number of missing people is
unknown.
I received an interesting junk email on December 28,
2004 with the subject, "Tsunami StrikeForce...and the
death toll is 22,000, they are mostly
" The email reads
in part: "22,000 DEAD...do you want to know the
breakdown? 80% Hindu, 10% Buddhists, 9% Christians, 1%
Muslims.
Those muslims that died were the sinful
muslims." I am not interested about the statistics, but
the last sentence. To me, the sender of the email is of
the opinion that all those that perished in the havoc
were sinners, especially the Muslims!
No matter the religions of the casualties of the
disaster, did they die because of their sins or
unrighteousness? Are we that are alive today sinless
saints, or more righteous than they? What do we want to
say about the missing people and especially the
displaced people in those countries? Is the fact that
these people came to a sudden and violent death a proof
that they were particularly wicked? By no means!
As I was reflecting on the sender's assertion, I
remembered the words of Jesus Christ amply quoted above
- "
unless you repent, you too will all perish." Some
people had come to Him to tell Him about the calamity
that befell some people, apparently to prove to Him
that they were more righteous than those people that
were killed unexpectedly. Nevertheless, Jesus Christ
used the opportunity to call them to repentance or
else, they also would experience similar fate. He even
went further to cite another example of a calamity that
befell other people in Jerusalem.
The point that Jesus Christ was making, which is still
applicable to us today, is this: We must not be harsh
in our censures of those that are afflicted more than
their neighbors. No matter what befalls others, let us
first, think of "ourselves" rather than of "others;"
and when we hear of any calamity happening to others,
let us remember that we also are not immune to it,
rather, let us remember that it is a way of calling us
to move closer to God. Only God can absolutely protect
from danger. However, unless we repent and turn to Him,
and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and
Lord, we would not be spared from the final calamity
that will befall this world and all that do not come to
Him.
Let me conclude with these words of Solomon, "Moreover,
no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are
caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare,
so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly
upon them" (Ecclesiastes 9:12, NIV).
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
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