6-23-14<\/p>\n
A lot of Christians think about Heaven in the same way that agnostics sort of hope about the afterlife, and even as assorted Hottentots of the world\u2019s pagan cults think about appeasing the gods. That is, that good deeds might earn the way to eternal life. <\/p>\n
Just act nice, nothing more? Jesus didn\u2019t believe it, and told us so. I have gotten to think about numbers \u2013 the numbers of times the Bible tells us that our hearts matter more to God than our deeds. The number of times Jesus and the apostles affirmed it. The number of good deeds we\u2019d have to do to persuade God that unbelief doesn\u2019t matter. <\/p>\n
Numbers.<\/p>\n
A big number, 2000. Two thousand years since Paul wrote: \u201cIf you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved\u201d (Romans 10:9). Charities, nice; but they do not equal Heaven. If so, Jesus could have saved Himself some major grief. Or 500. Five hundred years since Christians rediscovered Ephesians 2:8,9 \u2013 \u201cFor by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two thousand years, five hundred years, are a lot years to neglect when thinking about the Bible\u2019s truths. Here are other numbers for Christians to think about. Forget good deeds like charities. Think about sins. We all sin. Yours might be small ones, but let\u2019s count some.<\/p>\n
Do you sin once a day? Think an impure thought, or hold onto an unforgiveness? Maybe a white lie? Share a little gossip? Don\u2019t pray when you know you should? Fail to whisper a Christian blessing when someone needs it? Anything you don\u2019t confess? <\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say you do any one of these things just once a day \u2013 which would make you a virtual saint among all the rest of us, but, anyway\u2026 that one sin a day makes for 365 a year. Over 10 years, that\u2019s 3,650. If you have, say, 30 more years to live, that\u2019s more than 10,000 sins.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, if you commit these sins, even \u201clittle\u201d sins, once an hour during your waking hours \u2013 still not an absurd standard \u2013 that\u2019s a total of 160,00 sins. For 30 years. Let\u2019s count starting at, say, age 12, and go until the statistical life expectancy of an American female, 82. That would add up to more than 400,000 sins. Careful: transgress a couple times an hour, and you\u2019ll wind up a millionaire\u2026 in the sinner\u2019s lottery.<\/p>\n
Viewed in that statistical perspective, you\u2019d need a lot of good deeds, a pile of charity receipts, to face eternity fearlessly, right? Well the good news \u2013 the Good News \u2013 is, we don\u2019t have to pile up numbers of this OR that on scales of justice. Not about this. Confess with your mouth, believe in your heart.<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s not put the math books away yet. It is human nature to think we must do good deeds\u2026 and don\u2019t get me, or the scriptures, wrong: We SHOULD. And we DO. When Jesus lives in our hearts, we want to do good, we cannot hold back from taking joy in good deeds. Charity becomes our response, not our \u201cmeal ticket\u201d! <\/p>\n
Final numbers-crunching, for those who want to: on the general basis of the mathematics above:<\/p>\n
In your waking hours, each day, you have approximately 250 opportunities to do those good deeds \u2013 kind thoughts, helping hands, reassuring words. That\u2019s if you show charity only every five minutes. That\u2019s 1,750 times a week.<\/p>\n
Expand those \u201cgood deeds\u201d plus the time-frame: if you raise your children aright, if you pray with a hurting soul, if you seek God when He wants to talk to your spirit \u2013 added to the others, at the same pace, would approach 100,000 chances to do “good deeds” every year.<\/p>\n
You see it coming, math wizards: Live a normal lifespan, have the love of Jesus in your heart, do good deeds because obedient and joyful Christians are good-deed-doers\u2026 and your are in the neighborhood of 7-million acts of love. The root meaning of \u201ccharity,\u201d they\u2019ll tell you in other classrooms, is \u201clove.\u201d <\/p>\n
So, you do the arithmetic. Count the acts of charity, planning for the payoff. Or lose count of the acts of love, knowing you\u2019re already \u201chome,\u201d knowing \u201call these things shall be added unto you.\u201d We don\u2019t love because we have to. That\u2019s not love! When we act charitably from the overflow of our hearts, God\u2019s showers of blessing will follow. <\/p>\n
Numbers. Did you ever count the number of raindrops in a Spring shower? Not too easy, not too practical, not possible! Yet God\u2019s response to our acts of love will be \u201cshowers of blessing\u201d \u2013 oh, for the showers we plead!<\/p>\n
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\nSpeaking of numbers, and \u201cshowers of blessing,\u201d here is a choir from churches in Chennai (formerly Madras), Tamil Nadu, India, singing an old favorite, and reassuring, hymn.<\/p>\n