The Difference

February 28

The athlete knows that if he is to perform optimally he must condition himself by demanding more of himself today than he was capable of yesterday. The athlete who contents himself with the status quo may be a fine old coot one day who avoids the rocking chair but he won't be a champion who has medals and trophies to help him reflect upon his glory days. As Paul said in I Corinthians 9:27, “I fight: not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.” The one who stands in life's 'Winners' Circle' is the one who combats and overcomes the challenges he faces with spiritual discipline.

Factoring God into the equation allows that truth to become even more profound. He does not intend life's challenges—whether the sins that tempt us, or the sins that snare us, or the accusers who taunt us—to defeat us but to equip us to be "more than conquerors through Christ!" (Romans 8:37) Do we expect heaven to be populated with perfect people? If we do, we are mistaken. There will be Peter, who denied the Lord, who turned his back on the Messiah because he feared for this temporal life more than he believed for the eternal one (Mark 14:66-6). There will be Paul, who dragged believers before the authorities so they could be persecuted and slain for trusting Jesus as their Messiah (Acts 9:1, 2). There will be Mary Magdalene who had been a harlot (Luke 8:2). There will be the jailer who tortured prisoners for their faith in Christ until he became one of them (Acts 16:20-34).

When I was young, there was a serial killer who used a ruse of being in a cast to lure women to help him carry his things to his car. From there, they became his victims. When he was caught, after murdering dozens, he was witnessed to in prison and he repented and gave his life to Jesus. I can remember thinking how unfair it was that he would be forgiven of his heinous sins...but the angels in heaven rejoice when one sinner repents (Luke 15:10).

There will be all manner of scoundrels in heaven. Perhaps we wouldn't allow them entrance, but Jesus has paid the price for them to be there. I long ago stopped thinking about how little some people deserved to be cleansed and forgiven and granted eternal bliss and began focusing instead on how blessed I am—a blasphemer, an adulteress, an accomplice to a drug dealer, a tag-along with a motorcycle gang, a petty little person who strove to carry a facade of righteousness to hide behind while living a lie before myself and God—to be myself among the redeemed!

None of who I was matters anymore because I'm not her anymore. The devil tried to destroy me but Jesus repaired the damaged goods that I became under evil’s influence, allowing me to become the woman Christ died to save for Himself. Have you failed? Have you sinned? Like everyone else on the planet, you must answer, "Yes" to those questions. But like Peter, like Paul, like me and millions of other blood-bought believers, you may also answer "Yes" to Jesus. Let that make the difference for you for time and eternity.