It’s Friday, December 13th. Praise God for another week completed. Praise God for another day. The Scriptures remind me this morning in Luke 13 of a powerful truth: each person must repent or they will perish.
There was a group of Galileans that were killed at the hands of Pilot for reasons we do not know and another group of eighteen Jews that died because the tower in Siloam fell on them. Many thought these bad things happened because somehow they had sinned worse than others. Jesus dismissed that idea completely. We all die. If a person dies in a tragic accident or if a person miraculously survives, it is not a measure of their righteousness or the lack thereof. However, Jesus took this opportunity to point everyone to a greater need and concern: “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish”.
His point is that unless people turn from their sinful actions (repentance) they would all face destruction. My friends, the Bible says that we have all sinned. We have all transgressed and violated God’s moral law, the Ten Commandments, and are therefore worthy of eternal punishment. Without repentance of sin, condemnation awaits.
But can I tell you that is not what God wants for you. Scripture says that God finds no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God wants a relationship with you. God loves you. We know this because of Jesus Christ. He was sent by God having been born of a virgin, died on a cross, buried in a tomb, and raised from the dead to atone for our sins. “God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, so that whoever would believe in him, would not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
God’s desire is that you would repent of your sin, confess that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. In so doing, God will pardon your sin and grant you everlasting life. He will award you with the promise of Heaven. That’s what God wants for you.