By Brian Seibert
I have heard that a billy goat will eat anything. I have no other reference to this statement. I have never owned a billy goat; I wouldn’t know a billy goat if I saw one. I have, however, driven by sections of pasture or pins, on my way to and from work, where there were goats and trees and weeds and bushes. In a very short time, within a season, I started to notice a little less green in that pin and then just like magic, one day I noticed there wasn’t one thing growing from the ground except the bigger trees, and even the bark on the trees began to thin out. Those goats devoured every plant growing from the ground and started eating the bark off the larger trees. The smaller trees were gone, because the goats ate them. They ate everything. I say all this to say that I think it may be impossible for a goat to eat anything that will make it puke. I can say that I have never seen a goat puke, but as I mentioned, I have never owned a goat; maybe you have.
I have said to myself that if the sin committed in my personal life were something that a goat could eat, it would puke. My sin would make a billy goat puke.
We can imagine what it would take for a goat to puke. If a goat were to be exposed to a bucket full of sin, let’s pretend this is possible, and that goat would eat its fill; it would surely puke. You might ask, how much sin does it take to fill a bucket? Do I have enough sin to fill a bucket? How big is the bucket? Right? All good questions in this pretend scenario. According to scripture, God tells us that just one sin, one act of disobedience to God is a sin and that one sin would be enough to keep a (unbelieving) person out of His Kingdom of Heaven. I suppose you could say by this judgement, that it would take just one act of sin to fill a bucket. If a bucket was a guide or a measure of sin that would make a goat puke, or keep a person out of Heaven, then we would all be lost and unable to enter God’s Kingdom of Heaven, because we “ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” – Romans 3:23. The next thing you may think after reading this knowing that everyone sins most every day is “well, Ill never get to Heaven.”, or “why should I even try?”. I say to you that the sin I committed may be greater than your sin, and maybe there is another whose sin would fill three buckets or a hundred.
Let’s go back to the beginning when God created man and woman, and God was in fellowship with man and woman in the beginning…. but sin (led by the devil) entered the world and man and woman both, being tempted, then sinned. When they sinned, they separated themselves from God, because God cannot fellowship with sin. This separation tormented the man and woman, they were ashamed, they were afraid, they lost their place with God, their fellowship with God; the very thing they were created for was taken away from them. It separated them from God.
But God…’God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son – Jesus Christ, so that EVERYONE who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life’.-John 3:16. Even in the very garden, God had a plan and He made a way for man and woman to come back to Him in fellowship. The Bible says that God is love (IS LOVE…think about that for a second. IS the very thing LOVE) and His love is so great that He wasn’t going to let man and woman be separated from Him as long as the man and the woman still wanted to have fellowship with Him; as long as the man and the woman desired to turn from their sin – leave it behind – sorrowful that they sinned and turn back to God for rescue, then God will rescue. The way that God rescues the man and the woman is through His Son, Jesus Christ, who was sent to take away our sin. The only way that Jesus could take away our sin was by the shedding of His blood, by His sacrifice on the cross, and his death and resurrection by the power of God. A perfect and sinless person, Jesus Christ, – the Messiah who was both man and God had to be the sacrifice for our sin.
Think about the boundless love that it would take for God to send His Son, and for the Son to be willing to be the sinless sacrifice for you and for me, for the world. Jesus, who did not sin Himself, instead determined that He would offer Himself, IN OUR PLACE – INSTEAD OF YOU OR ME, to be killed by sinful people, loving them – loving us, even as they were sinning – even as you and I were sinning –even as those nails were driven into his hands and feet. He died for us so that if ANYONE who believes in Jesus, believes what Jesus has spoken directly or through His disciples, makes the decision to turn from their sin and asks for forgiveness, will be forgiven and saved. All their sin…no matter how many buckets full, will be forgiven. Their fellowship, your fellowship will be restored with God, and God will give you – give them a new life, and Heaven will be a new home for you or for anyone who makes this decision.
God doesn’t force Himself on anyone, because God gave us the ability to make decisions to have freedom in choice. We chose to love God, or we chose to not love God. We chose to live by rules which protect us, or we chose to do things that would harm us. When we chose to not love God, then we are choosing a way that does not offer return to fellowship, we chose a way that separates us from God. God doesn’t force Himself on us, so when we chose to separate ourselves from God, then God does not hear you; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear (Isaiah 59:1-2). Without God, there is no love, there is no light, there is no warmth, there is no life, because God is all these things and more.
What happens to people who chose not to let God redeem them?
Because God created our soul to live forever, then it must go somewhere when our bodies die, and our bodies die because of our sinful nature we inherited from the first man who sinned – Adam. If we chose not to be with God, then we are without God, by our choice. When Jesus returns, he will lock satan up for 1000 years, and Jesus will rule the entire world where there will be no devil to tempt anyone. After the 1000 years, the devil is released for a time to deceive and lead people away, and a great army will come against Jesus. Jesus will speak and destroy that army and the devil will be cast away for eternity into a place prepared for him and the other fallen angels. This place will be torment and without the presence of God, it is well described in the Bible. This place was created for them, but it will be the only other place in God’s creation where anyone can go who doesn’t want to be with God. Created for the devil and the other fallen angles, but a place where people will go who have decided not to turn from sin and accept the free gift of eternal life, loving God, in Heaven. So, God doesn’t send people to hell, the people chose to go. The choice is yours; the choice is mine. We chose to believe in God’s son Jesus Christ, and to follow Him the rest of our lives. As we follow, when we sin, we recognize that sin and ask for forgiveness – even forgiveness of those we have hurt. We are forgiven and God will help us every time. As we follow Jesus, our relationship with God gets stronger and stronger and the sin we commit in our lives becomes less and less. We still have a sinful, sin prone body we must deal with, but our hearts and minds, our soul belongs to God, and God will keep His promise and redeem us to be with Him in Heaven when we die.
I hope that you have decided to give your bucket of sin to God in exchange for His Grace that takes away that sin. The Bible says that God will remember your sin no more. He won’t bring it up or recall it. When you mean it in your heart and you desire God to make you into a new person, just ask Him, and He will do it. All of mankind’s sin was paid for by Jesus on the cross, but only if you ask God to include your sin. He doesn’t force you to, but He wants you to so very much. Each person is loved by God from the least to the greatest and God doesn’t play favorites. So, dump your bucket, empty your bucket and let God do what He does and read the Bible…. Read the Bible… God will teach you and lead you when you pray and Read the Bible. We can only be spoon fed by a pastor or preacher, so Read the Bible. And Grow in your personal relationship with Jesus, with God.