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"Hello" to all my regular readers and those who are here for the first time!
I hope that this blog enlightens and encourages those who read it but I also hope that it will wake up those who have been asleep to the clock that is ticking within our beautiful nation and within the body of Christ. It is my goal to glorify our Lord and share the Truth with anyone who will listen!
I pray that the Lord will give you strength and courage each day to do His will and to glorify Him. It seems to be getting harder and harder these days to keep our heads above water, but He does promise us that He will not allow the waters to overtake us! Praise Him for that promise!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Who is Your Judge?

This week I had the privilege to help in a community project. A local Christian school hosted a regional speech and debate tournament. I was asked to assist in the judging; something that I had never done before, but was assured that I needed no prior experience. I was nervous and excited to be involved and when the day arrived I prayed for guidance and headed out. They provided a brief orientation for all who were willing to judge and gave us clear instructions. It seemed simple enough. The first event I was scheduled for was a debate and at the end of the orientation, I discovered that there would be only one judge for each debating event! I had assumed, of course, that there would be a panel of judges. Well, that wasn't the case; the sole responsibility would be on my shoulders! Feelings of trepidation began to creep into my mind and I started to become quite concerned.

I found the correct room and got settled in. The students began to arrive and before long we were under way. As time passed so did my nervousness. In fact it was quite interesting and informative. I was amazed at the professionalism and knowledge of these high-school aged students. It truly was a blessing to be a part of this tournament. The students wrapped up their closing arguments and thanked me for judging and that was it. Now came the part that I won't quickly forget: the time to choose one over the other, to rank them for their effort and to JUDGE them!

I was able to make the decisions that I needed to make but as I was driving home later that day, I found my heart to be troubled over the scores that I had given one of the students. Even though this student was clearly not the best of the four, I started to feel guilty about the scores that I had recorded. An overwhelming feeling of responsibility came over me as I prayed about this. I began to contemplate the debate and to ask for forgiveness if I was too hard on this student. This path that my mind took regarding judgment went down a road that I wasn't expecting. I started to think about how heavy a responsibility it is to judge others and then I realized that I probably do it every day! Maybe not on paper, maybe not out loud, but in the secret places of my mind. I place judgment on others for things that I have not been given the authority to judge; like the woman who, in my opinion, wears too much makeup, or the person who was in too big of a hurry on the highway. Maybe the judgments I make are even deeper than that regarding my friends and family. My wandering mind then quickly went to the ultimate judge: God. How thankful I am that the only Person's opinion that truly matters for my judgment His! I am so grateful that it is a Perfect and Holy God that I serve and follow and that I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will NEVER be good enough on my own to meet His requirements. What a tiring and endless effort for those who think that if they are good enough or that they work hard enough they may have a chance to spend eternity with Him. What poor souls!

Ultimate judgment will come to each and every person who has ever lived, but for those who have believed on the blood of Christ for their righteousness they can be assured that condemnation will pass over them. We can take heart that even though we try to live according to His Word and by the conviction on His Spirit, we will never live a sinless life. A score of 10 out of 1,000 on our evaluation will not eliminate us from the round and cause us to lose the ultimate reward; a relationship with the Lord God Almighty. He knows how hard we try, (or don't try), He knows what our limitations are and He knows exactly on what and where our hearts are focused. It isn't up to others to try to determine that; only Him. So have you accepted the glorious gift that Jesus gave you when He died on the cross for your righteousness? If so, do you still live in fear that you aren't good enough or that other people may not give you a good enough score? Don't despair! You're covered, you're in, you're set! You are now considered a child of God and your permanent residence is in the Kingdom of Heaven. AMEN!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What else can be said. Good job!