The first man said, I think about the joys of heaven and that causes me not to sin.
The second man said, I think about the torments of hell and that scares me from sinning.
The third man said, I think about the love of God and that makes me forsake sin. After all, sinning would offend the God of love.
You can probably relate to some of these reasons as well. Maybe even all of them. The important thing is not the motivation behind your decision to turn away from sin and do God’s will but that you do it (James 1:22).
Thinking about the joys of heaven
When we keep our thoughts on heaven and the fact that (if we’re saved) we’ll be spending eternity with the Lord, it makes the pleasures of this world seem insignificant. We’re in our mortal bodies for such a short time. From heaven’s perspective, we’re like withering grass and fading flowers (Isaiah 40:7) in that we live for such a short time compared to eternity.
Thinking about the hell
I have to admit that when I was saved as a young boy, my main motivation for accepting Christ was due to my fear of hell. That was in a time when pastors still preached about the torments of hell. Some still do, but probably much fewer than when I was a boy.
Some people object to scaring people into hell. But I say, whatever gets people saved is a good thing. Not that I’m a fire and brimstone kind of guy because I’m not. But keep in mind that Jesus spoke about hell much more often than He spoke about heaven. Why? Because He doesn’t want anyone to go there.
Thinking about God’s love
I find that the more I dig into the word of God, the more I understand the depth of God’s love for me and for you. I serve a living God who paid the penalty for my sins so that, if I accept His son as my Lord and Savior, I can spend eternity with Him. How can I offend a God who loves me that much?
Friends, our God loves us so much that he wishes that none of us should perish (Matthew 18:14). Whatever your motivation is for turning away from sin, the important thing is that we do so.
Comments
Post a Comment