LESSON 20

10/14/03

YOU’RE THOUGHTS: What does the word repent mean?

Do you think God is working in your life?

Do you believe God is a patient God?

MY THOUGHTS: Do you remember the parable of the ten virgins and their lamps? (Matt.25: 1-12). Five were wise because they had oil with their lamps and five were foolish because they took no oil for their lamps. Do you remember what happened when the bridegroom (Jesus) arrived? Yes, the five virgins with oil in their lamps were allowed into the wedding (Heaven) because they were prepared, needless to say the other five were not prepared. Are you prepared? If not, what must be done so that you are prepared?

Remember Judas Iscariot? How can you forget him? He was the one who betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ. What did he do wrong? He was one of the disciples, who followed Jesus every where He went. He had the unique privilege to hear all that Jesus said about His father and he received first hand instructions on how he can be prepared to meet the Father in Glory. Did he listen to Jesus during those teaching sessions or was he to busy tending with what little money that was in their possession? What was his top priority in his life? It certainly wasn’t Jesus. It was somebody else and that somebody was himself. He wanted all that money for himself. He was bent out of shape when he saw Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with that costly ointment (John.12: 3-6). Judas was completely blind to the intimate relationship demonstrated between a sinner and her loving Savior. He was given many opportunities to make that internal choose to except Jesus but he allowed greed and pride to contaminate his ability to think with his heart and as result, we all know what happened.

In 2 Chronicles: 33, verse two, the first few words says it all when we are describing a man by the name of Manasseh. I was shocked at the things he did during the 55 years that he reigned in Jerusalem. Unlike Judas who was more private with his sin, Manasseh wasn’t ashamed of his sin. He was bold and wanted people around him to join in his transgressions. Manasseh was so bad that he even made his children walk through fire. He wasn’t even afraid of setting up his other Gods that he believed in on altars in the very Temple of God.

Both Judas and Manasseh had one thing in common. They were both extremely hated in the minds of mortals like you and me, but in the mind of God they were deeply loved and God worked on them in His attempt of convincing them of this. In the case of Judas, he failed to see this, but in the case of Manasseh he eventually gave in and repented. I don’t know why Judas was so adamant in not accepting Gods love, which was all around him, into his heart except that he was one of the pieces of the great puzzle that God was putting together that led to His son’s crucifixion. There are a few things we can learn from the choices these two men made. One is that while you are still alive on this earth, it is never too late to repent and surrender your life to Jesus Christ, which we see that Manasseh chose. Then again, if you wait to long it might be too late which we see in the choice Judas made. The other lesson that comes from these men is the extent of Gods love for us. When I read the incidents in scripture that pertain to the interaction between Jesus and Judas, I can’t help but see the heart of Jesus reaching out to Judas. God did not give up on Manasseh even though He was driven to anger by the things that Manasseh did.

How do you get prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom? Repent; don’t wait for extreme afflictions to come your way like Manasseh did. Repent today. Join the Bride of Christ and be like the wise virgin with her lamps full ready to walk with the glorious Bridegroom toward the gates of Heaven. May the love Christ sustain you .Amen

Scripture Ref. 2 Chr.33: 21-24 (Please, don’t wait). Matt.21:28-31, Acts.2:38, (Gods’ sadness) Gen.6:6, 2Cor.7:10,

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