Mr. President, I pray you make it to Heaven as well, but you won’t get there by good deeds, even if they are some fantastic accomplishments.
Of course, I’m referencing President Trump’s comments that he hopes his efforts in bringing peace to multiple countries and his hope that he can broker a peace deal with Ukraine and Russia might be just what is needed to get him into Heaven. He also goes on to acknowledge that he’s not doing well on the other side of the good/bad ledger and that he is at “the bottom of the totem pole.”
I would imagine there was a little bit of joking in his voice but also a dash of sincerity. Any sane person would want to go to Heaven and not Hell when they depart this fallen world.
Well, let me provide you some comfort, Mr. President. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We are saved by God’s Grace and not by works. Just as John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
It’s a bit of an oversimplification but basically if you want forgiveness and salvation, you have to humbly and sincerely acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and ask for Him to come into your heart and forgive those sins (no matter how long you think that list might be).
Of course, if Jesus is our Savior, we should see some fruits of that conversion of dying to our old self and becoming a new creation.
Perhaps one of most difficult passages for me to come to grasp with was the story of the day laborers found in Matthew 20:1-16. This passage speaks of a householder who goes out at the beginning of the day and hires workers for his vineyard.
For the first group, he promises to pay them a penny for a day’s work (yes it was a long time ago). Then he goes out the rest of the day at different hours and hires more people and promises them whatsoever is right, he will give them. He does this throughout the day even until the last hour when basically they probably worked for one hour.
When the day is done, he lines them up and starts with the guy who worked only one hour. To him, he gave a penny, making those who worked all day and were promised to be paid a penny to believe that they would get more because they had worked so much more.
But when he got to those who had worked all day, they also received a penny. As you can imagine, they were not happy and began to grumble. But the householder told them that he did nothing wrong. They had agreed to a penny and should go in peace as he had a right to share his wealth as he saw fit.
Now when I first read these passages and even when I taught a Sunday School class on them one time, I must admit being a bit of a Capitalist that I struggled with the true meaning.
But then it occurred to me that the penny, represents God’s Grace and whether we become a Christian at a young age or old, whether we were the worst individual ever, or what many would call “good,” God’s Grace is there if we will just receive it.
It made me realize my thankfulness that God’s Grace didn’t stop just before He got to me. And His Grace doesn’t stop just before you either.
So, President Trump, I pray you have or if you haven’t you will accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, confess your sins, and accept His Grace that he offers not only to you, but to everyone. And only then you will truly find the perfect peace.