A little while ago I was talking to a friend about some plastic kitchen items she had bought a number of years ago. They were starting to wear out, and she was complaining about how disappointed she was that they had not lasted as long as she had expected. I tried to explain to her that the products she had bought came with a life-time guarantee—a promise that at any time all she had to do was return the item that was wearing out and she would receive a new one completely free. As long as the wearing out was caused by normal use, the guarantee (or promise) was good for as long as she owned the item. But she would not believe that the promise applied to her items.
“Oh, that can’t possibly apply to me,” she said. “That guarantee may be all right for other people if it breaks right after they buy it, but they certainly won’t give me new ones free. These things are over ten years old.”
I explained to her that the guarantee did not have a time limit, so she could have a free replacement if she would just turn in the worn-out items. Still she would not believe me. So she is stuck with some worn-out things that she will probably have to throw out before long.
You know, as I spoke with her, I thought of how some boys and girls (and men and women, too) treat God’s free offer of salvation. God has provided the salvation at such a high cost to Himself for every lost, guilty sinner. The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, died on the cross and there bore God’s just punishment against sin. Now, because of the high cost of that perfect Sacrifice, God can and does offer to forgive the sins of every one who will believe in His beloved Son. “Through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.” Acts 13:3838Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: (Acts 13:38). And yet many people still say, “God can’t possibly mean that He can save me. His salvation and forgiveness may work for other people who don’t have a very big pile of sins against them, but He certainly can’t forgive as big a sinner as I am.” And yet, when God says “WHOSOEVER believeth in Him [the Lord Jesus Christ] should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)), doesn’t that include every single person in this world? Are you doubting or ignoring God’s free offer of mercy and forgiveness simply because Satan (the devil) has convinced you that it really does not apply to you? God cannot lie, and when He says His salvation is for WHOSOEVER, that means YOU. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:1313For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13).
ML-11/13/1983