John 8:1-12 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Behind the face of every individual is a heart that is vibrant and alive, broken in despair, or somewhere in between. Do you notice the countenance of those around you to see where their source of joy is coming from? If you haven’t noticed there are people all around you that need a simple word of encouragement instead of dreadful condemnation. Do you agree that there is already enough negativity and darkness in the world? If so, release the power of a spoken word of encouragement into another’s spirit and experiment to see if the day brightens up.
Over the past few days, I have been looking into the faces of people who are searching for something more. While enjoying my adventures at the mission yesterday, I met a lady named Samaria. She was in her fifties and her face was rough from the weather of age and a hard life. She had traveled many places throughout the world and seemed to be a somewhat happy vagabond, yet within her spirit there was a sense of restlessness. She was searching and longing for more and didn’t seemed to be satisfied with where she was. She told me that she had just stopped by the police station to take herself off of the missing person report. Life had gotten hard in her last place of residence, and she decided to leave without telling anyone. Have you ever felt like this lady who has ran all her life searching? What was she searching for?
Next, there is the 21-year old named Carlos who is locked up in prison for hanging around the wrong crowd. His eyes seemed bright, and he was even interested in getting into Bible Study classes. You could feel the shame in his voice as he spoke about what had led him to his current place of residence. He already knew what he did was wrong, and now his eyes are opened to the darkness that he was living in. Many want to cast away a young man who was caught in a car full drugs, but is this the answer? Can we condemn those who have made mistakes and are already full of guilt and shame?
The lady that was brought to Jesus in the above scriptures was just like these two people in the real life stories of my week. The adulteress lady was searching for love through her restless spirit. Was it all her fault? Of course, she must take the responsibility for her actions. However, if her husband was a God-fearing man, He should have been able to direct her to the One who could feel her love tank to overflow. Nevertheless, she was caught in her sin, and the Pharisees and scribes who seemed to walk at a higher standard was ready to throw rocks at her and kill her. We must remember that being righteous before God should humble us instead of causing us to walk around in pride and with a judging spirit. We should long to help and encourage and not kill and destroy. The adulteress was like the young man at the prison who was already full of guilt and shame. She found herself lying on the ground before the only One who could have condemned her—Jesus Christ. In His grace, truth and mercy, He forgave her and told her to sin no more.
Growing up, I learned a valuable lesson about Christ’s forgiveness through my dad. He told me not to drive on the back roads of my country town during the snowy weather one night. Of course, I didn’t want to listen to what he had to say and ended up riding down the roads anyway. I thought, “he will never know!” It was about midnight when the consequence of my sin against my dad came to light. I drove around a curve and lost control on ice. The car did a 180, and the backside of the car slammed into a ditch. I didn’t have my seat belt on and the impact threw me into the seat instead of out the window. It could have been much worse… I walked to my friend’s house and felt the guilt, shame and unworthiness to even call my dad. He had always told me to call him if I ever got into trouble or stranded. This was one call I did not want to make. Around 1AM with a trembling voice, I called my dad for help. It was humbling and humiliating for me and especially with others around to see me get caught. He told me to stay where I was and he would meet me and try to get the car out of the ditch. When he arrived, he didn’t say a word… He could have said, “I told you so, I can’t believe you did this to yourself, or a multitude of other remarks,” yet in his grace and mercy, he comforted me with his presence as I sat in the silence of a trembling heart.
I hope you can see that the world does not need more people to condemn each other. The Word of God, conscience of man and working of the Holy Spirit is enough to convict and condemn a lost heart that already feels shame, guilt and defeat. They do not need to see stones in your hands whether directed at them or anyone else. What the world needs to see is Jesus. The One who became sin for us, though he knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) If we all can be brought into Jesus’ presence, every stone will be cast to the ground because the only stone holding us down was the one He rolled away. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1). Jesus says, “Go and sin no more!”
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