Somebody cares

Good News – July/August 2010 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Somebody Cares

The Lord is ... not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9

The young man thought he could live by his own rules, so instead of serving his time as a soldier in the Civil War, he left without permission. He was eventually caught, convicted of desertion and sentenced to death before a firing squad at a military barracks in Davenport, Iowa.

But just minutes before his scheduled execution, Indiana Congressman Schuyler Colfax – who later became Vice President of the United States under Ulysses S. Grant – went to the White House to plead for him. The Congressman told the young man’s story to President Abraham Lincoln.

President Lincoln listened patiently, and then said: “Some of my generals complain that I impair discipline by my frequent pardons and reprieves; but it rests me, after a day’s hard work, that I can find some excuse for saving some poor fellow’s life, and I shall go to bed happy tonight as I think how joyous the signing of this pardon will make himself, his family and friends.”

Even though this young soldier was guilty of desertion, he escaped the punishment of the firing squad. He lived because somebody cared enough to intervene on his behalf, and somebody cared enough to give him a second chance.

Like this soldier, we sometimes think we can live by our own rules without any consequences . But according to the Bible, we are all guilty in the sight of God – guilty of sin: “The Scripture has confined all under sin” (Gal. 3:22 NKJV). Like deserters, we too have tried to run away from God, break His commandments, and fail to live up to His standards (Rom. 3:23).

Because of our sin, we face something far worse than a firing squad. We face eternal punishment: “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). Those who die in their sins without God’s forgiveness will not be listed in God’s Book of Life: “Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15).

Thankfully, somebody cared for us and stepped in to save us. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8 ). God doesn’t want us to die in our sins. He is not willing that any of us should perish or be condemned (2 Pet. 3:9). He desires to remove our guilt and give us a pardon. The Bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).

Are you a sinner? Have you responded to God’s love for you? Have you accepted His offer of forgiveness, and His free gift of everlasting life? If not, you can do so today and escape eternal punishment.

God stands ready, right now, to remove your guilt and give you a new life. These wonderful blessings are yours for the asking, because the Bible gives you this assurance:, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13). We can tell you more.

By Roscoe Barnes III