Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Don't we wish we had a million days, not just 365 every year, to proclaim the gospel as Good News! There's no end to the crumbs of the bread of life that can nourish our famishing souls each new day. Take for example these verses from Psalm 103: "Bless the Lord, O my soul; ... Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases" (vss. 1, 3). The Good News says that the "you" is you, even if you are unworthy, even if you are a sinner.
The Bad News says No; that promise is only if you are a church member or at least a good person who has repented and done everything just right, and your conscience is clear. Only then can you expect the Lord to hear and answer your prayers and heal you. But which is true?
We can find the answer in the story in Mark 2 when Jesus healed the paralytic who was carried to Him by four men who broke up the tiles on the roof and let him down. Jesus knew very well that this man had brought sickness upon himself by sinful living. But He didn't ask the poor man any questions, or to make any promises. He didn't even ask him if he had repented; He said straight out, "Son, your sins are forgiven!"
Does Jesus limit His healing grace only to good people? Don't bad people get healed, too? If a bad person cuts his finger, doesn't the blood clot also? Read all those wonderful promises in Psalm 103 about your mouth satisfied with good food, and your youth renewed like the eagle's, and your life redeemed from destruction, etc. Doesn't the dear Lord do this for all His children--even the wandering, prodigal sons who haven't yet gone home?? And if that's so, then doesn't it follow that He also "forgives all your iniquities"? If not, how could anybody live, even for a moment?
If the Lamb of God hadn't paid the price for our sins on His cross, how could we take even another breath? Well, the Good News is good; believe it, and sing the Hallelujah Chorus today!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 26, 1997.
Copyright © 2011 by "Dial Daily Bread."
