Reading your Bible for Today July 26

July 26: Matthew 19:16-22

KJV Key Verse: Matthew 19:17
17 And he said unto him,Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Devotion:
We always think of Jesus as being pure, without fault and without blemish… so why would He say He is not good and that God alone is? Think about this question a bit more before reading further – even go over the verses again and see why.

God is Holy and hence cannot abide sin. He will not allow sin to enter into heaven. So how can Jesus get into heaven if He is saying He is not good? The answer is is given to us here in these verses. There is nothing we can do which will release us from the burden of sin, the thing which is keeping us from getting to be with God in heaven. But Jesus is there at the right hand of the Father. How come? Because He was willing to lift up those sins to His Father in heaven and ask for forgiveness!

Jesus was no longer good when He took on our sins. He was no longer clean and without sin. And yet He stepped forward willingly to take on this mantle; because He knew His Father in heaven would forgive Him once and for all. He is now standing up for every one of us, taking on the sin debts we owe and bringing them up to the Father in our stead, asking for forgiveness!

What an awesome and loving advocate we have. One who willingly gave it all so we could get to be with God in heaven. What an awesome Christ; one who stepped forward to take our sins and bury them forever so God will not have to look upon them any more! We have the same choice. Do we keep hold of all the silly things in life which cannot get us into heaven, or do we put aside the worldly possessions and move forward with Christ knowing it is all possible because of Him!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you look back at the cross?

Are you willing to give it all to Christ?