BEGINNING with "A" we would like to find a verse for each letter of the alphabet, and have one each week in "Messages of Love," if the Lord will. In these twenty-six verses of Scripture the Lord will tell you many wonderful and helpful things.
“A”
Dear young readers, have you been told that only good people go to heaven? So many children think that.
But if that were true no one would be saved, for this same third chapter of Romans tells us "there is none righteous" (verse 10), "there is none that doeth good" (verse 12), and "there is none that seeketh after God" (verse 11).
We are all born with a sinful nature, and we all sin. God loves us and wants to have us with Him, but He cannot have anything sinful in His presence. Because we have sinned, we have come short of the glory of God. Do you know what it means to come short ?
Suppose you are running a race around the block with one of your playmates, and you come out fifty steps behind. You come short of winning the race. But sup_pose you are only two steps behind. That is such a little bit. It makes a very close race. But still you come short.
Suppose you are going to take a long trip on the train. Your bag is packed, and you are all ready to leave the house,— just waiting till it is time to start. But when you get to the station, the ticket agent says, "Why, your train left an hour ago." Your clock must have been wrong. You missed your train.
But suppose your clock is all right, and you start in plenty of time. Then something along the way delays you for a few minutes. When you reach the station you are half a minute late. The train has gone; you see it as it speeds away, but you can't catch it. Again you have missed your train. Whether a minute late, or an hour late, makes no difference. You have come short of catching your train.
Now, you may be a very naughty child, not caring how often you disobey your parents and your teachers,—not caring how many bad things you do. Or you may be a child who tries very hard to obey parents and teachers,—one who wants very much to do that which is right and good, but that sinful nature will show itself sometimes, even perhaps, when you don't realize it. And so you have come short of perfection just as truly as the very naughty child who doesn't care.
You lose the race whether you are just a few steps behind, or a half a block behind. You miss the train whether you are one minute late, or a whole hour late. And just so you come short of the glory of God, whether you have sinned once or a thousand times.
But God in His great love and grace has provided a way to make you fit for His presence. He gave His beloved Son to die on the cross for sinners, "and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).
No matter what people tell you, you are a sinner. You need a Saviour. Turn to Him. Trust in Him for your salvation. Washed in His blood, you will be fit to live with Jesus in glory throughout all eternity.
Messages of God’s Love 5/13/1928