Will Time Embarrass Us about Our Judgment? by John

I was taught early in life the difference between right and wrong. Years ago I found myself judging people the moment I saw them in action. That was wrong on my part, and it wasn't easy to conquer that reaction. I don't believe I have conquered it yet. Perhaps you may have the same problem.

In the Old Testament we can find the answers to many puzzling questions if we view it from a New Testament viewpoint. I had one of those "Aha!" moments while reading Ezekiel just last week. In both the third and thirty-third chapters, God talks to Ezekiel about his responsibility as a watchman over the house of Israel, but in 18:21-28, he talks to him about the righteous man who turns from his righteous way of life and the wicked man who turns from his evil way. He has already stated that everyone is responsible for his own sins. None of us can blame our parents, our children or anyone else. Verse 21 says; "But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; He will not die." Verse 24 says; "But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die." That's pretty clear, isn't it?

I see this as a core item in the Old Testament Covenant God made with Israel. In the New Testament Jesus takes away the guilt of every sinner who comes to Him, and He fulfills the old covenant for us.

That is really great, isn't it? But what I want us to think about is this: As a child of God, we tend to make snap judgments about people, don't we? We place them in one of three categories, saved, lost, or condition unknown. Our problem as I see it is that we almost always place people in one of the first two categories before their whole story is told. What God spoke to Ezekiel was true then and is true now. We don't see a person's life completely. We never do not even after they've passed away. We tend to view those whose history we know with assurance that we can now judge them. The truth is only God ever sees a person for who he really is! We never have the right to judge them.

We do have the right to look at what a person does and say that is good, or that is bad, but we must also accept a person's acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord and Savior as real even if his actions don't show it. If it is unreal, God will take care of that. We have the responsibility for telling people about Jesus regardless of what we think about them personally, and to do it with a loving spirit.

I heard of a deacon and his pastor visiting a young medical doctor and his wife. The deacon invited them to church, "Come visit our church! You are our kind of people!" His pastor was appalled. He told the deacon not to ever say a thing like that again. God wants and loves people regardless of their position, possessions, politics, or education, or lack of any of those. Everyone should be aware of that. God loves all sinners! That's the exact reason each one of us can be saved at any point in our lives!

Every one of us needs Jesus, and we need Him at every point in our life! Some of us come to Him early on, and some later. Some never do. Our responsibility is to tell the lost they are going the wrong way, and we need to help them understand that Jesus is the right way.

We have no responsibility and no right to judge anyone before they've lived out their lives on earth. We do have the right to think what we want, but not to pass judgment. At any rate, let's wait until their whole story is told. Even then, we should leave all judgment in God's hands. In the Gospel of John 5:39, Jesus told those listening that they searched and trusted the Scriptures (apparently the Pentateuch), and they thought because they did that, they would live eternally. He followed that by saying those Scriptures testified about Him. Later, in 14:6 He said, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." That leads me to say confidently, there is no other way to please God and become His child. If you have another idea, I'd strongly urge you to consider what it means to disallow God's Word! At best, to turn away from God is to turn toward emptiness.

I hate to close this on a negative note! Let me say, God opened the way for you to be acceptable to Himself, and He invites you to become His child by placing your trust in His Son Jesus. All of us who are already children of God join in His invitation. Come to Jesus while God gives you time!