Jesus is More Concerned about Your Future than Your Past

Labels. A fellow gave me the other day. We got into a lively discussion about some ethical issues. Somewhere in our conversation he asked me what kind of work I was in. I told him I was minister, and he said, “Oh, I see,” and grew silent.

            I want to say, “No, you don’t. Don’t you put me in that box. I’m not a minister. I’m Max-who-ministers. Don’t you put me in that box with all those hucksters and hypocrites you may know. That’s not fair.”

            Labels. So convenient. Stick them on a person, and you know what pantry to use.

            What if God did that to us? What if God judged us by our outward appearance? What if He judged us based on where we grew up? Or what we do for a living? Or the mistakes we made when we were young? He wouldn’t do that, would He?

            “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Matthew 7:1-2).

            Becareful when you judge. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t discern. That does mean we shouldn’t pass the verdict. The amount of grace you give is the amount you get.

            Jesus had another view of the man born blind. Rather than see him as an opportunity for discussion, He saw him as an opportunity for God. Why was he blind? “That the works of God should be revealed in him” (John 9:3).

            What a perspective! The man wasn’t a victim of fate; he was a miracle waiting to happen. Jesus didn’t label him. He helped him. Jesus was more concerned about the future than the past.

            Who do you best relate to in this story? Some of you relate to the man born blind. You have been the topic of conversation. You have been left out on the outside looking in. You’ve been labelled.

            If so, learn what this man learned: When everyone else rejects you, Christ accepts you. When everyone else leaves you, Christ finds you. When no one else wants you, Christ claims you. When no one else will give you the time of day, Jesus will give you the words of eternity.

            Others of you will relate to the observers. You’ve judged. You’ve labelled. You’ve slammed the gavel and proclaimed the guilt before knowing the facts. If that is you, go back to John 9:4 and understand what the work of God is: “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

            What is the work of God? Accepting people.

Loving before judging. Caring before condemning.

            Look before you label.

[From A Gentle Thunder by Max Lucado]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.