Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
I love the old invitation hymn song, Just As I Am. What a great truth in the message of that song. God wants us to come as we are. We are told to bring all of our cares, lost condition and cast it upon the Lord. We should know that He loves us so much that He's already paid the debt for our sins.
One problem that is prevalent in churches today is people that haven't understood that Christ saves and changes us. Some come to Jesus as they are but leave exactly the same as when they came. That's not salvation! That's not repenting of your sins and being changed.
So many want to hang on to a part of the old person or lifestyle. But that's not being changed. What if saved people were not changed?
Zacchaeus came as a sinner but left saved! So much that his life showed it. A sinful woman came as an adulterer but left restored! Lazarus laid there as a dead man but rose up alive! The crippled man laid by the pool a lame but walked away with his bed in his hand! A hungry person comes to the table hungry but walks away filled! A sinner comes to Jesus lost but stands up found. He, or she, comes to Jesus broken and leaves mended.
What if Jesus would have to allowed the woman who was caught in the act of adultery to continue on in the sin she was just set free from? What about Peter when he denied The Lord three times? What if Jesus would have said, "Don't do me that way please...!) and Peter just continues in sin? It's crazy!
So why is this our motive in some believers today? We want to please instead of preach. We want to entertain instead of feel the presence of the Holt Spirit. We can and will always be welcome to come to Jesus with a broken heart. But we cannot stay the same.
Dear Lord, change me everyday. Make me more like you and less of me. I love you and thank you
