Jesus Chose That Guy?

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37 TNIV

Jesus chose the twelve men who would become His disciples. They are named, and one of the names agreed upon in the gospels is Judas Iscariot. Jesus chose that guy? Yes, the one who would go on to betray our Lord to His death was Judas the traitor. Jesus chose that guy to be one of the twelve, His disciples.

Jesus chose me too, and I cannot claim that my sin was any better or worse than that of Judas. While I am not one of the twelve disciples, being instead toward the other end of a long line of discipleship stretching out almost 2,000 years, my choosing of Him shows that He had chosen me already. You make the same claim and unless you happen to be a previously unknown paragon of virtue from your earliest decisions your sin probably is no better than Judas' either. We, together, make quite the collection of saved sinners and it is all due to our Lord Jesus. Not one of us can claim to have earned our salvation, and not one of us can claim to be better than that guy.

Unless, of course, you want to take up condemnation, and then you may want to review our verse for today. I don't want to be condemned; therefore, I will not condemn that guy, Judas, or that fellow over there, or that young lady on the street, or any other neighbor whom I am to love as myself.

Have a joyful day in Christ, even in those tough times down in Sidney.

Love, Bucky