"Whatever It Takes"

"I will offer unto Thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams: I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah." (Psalms 66:15) Our God is all about forgiveness; He loves to forgive us of our sins, because He loves us and desires to have fellowship with us. Last night, Pastor Rick said something I had to write down with exclamation marks, he said, "It's not about the rules, it's about our response to the redemption." We were studying in Deuteronomy 4 & 5, which was Moses' farewell and instruction to God's people, and Rick kept repeating the fact that God delivered His people before He gave them the law. Prior to Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, forgiveness of sin was more of a covering up than a whipping away; the offerings which were giving did not remove the sins of God's people, but merely covered them, allowing God to 'wink' at their sins; Jesus' death upon the cross took all those sins away also, thereby whipping away every sin of the past also. Jesus died on that cross for "ALL THE SINS OF THE WORLD" (1 John 2:2), which even include the sins of Adam and Eve; everyone was included, everyone can enter in, and everyone has been called to repentance. The question is, "What are you going to do about it?" I had to say that, just because it was stuck in my head all night after watching some parts of "Do You Believe?", and remembering what the man with the cross said to that Pastor: "If you believe in the cross of Christ, then the next question is: What are you going to do about it?" God did whatever it took to save us from our sins; even to the point of coming down from heaven to be nailed upon a cross for us! The least we can do, is whatever it takes to please Him, and to show Him that we are thankful for what He has done... "What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don't show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, "Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well" - but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless." (James 2:14-17)