When Mercy Hangs in the Balance

Have you ever noticed how sometimes the smallest things end up saving the day? A single bolt holding a plane's wing. A single match lighting a fire in the freezing cold. Sometimes just one small thing changes everything. Back in 1829, a man named George Wilson was convicted of robbing a U.S. mail carrier and sentenced to death. But then—unexpectedly—the President of the United States issued him a full pardon. You'd think that'd be the end of it, right? But Wilson refused the pardon, saying that he didn't want it. The case went all the way to the US Supreme Court which finally ruled: "A pardon is just a piece of paper unless it's accepted." Wilson was executed. Which brings me to this. Jesus said: John 3:14-15 Moses lifted up the snake in the desert. It is the same with the Son of Man. He must be lifted up too. Then everyone who believes in him can have eternal life. It sounds odd at first—Jesus comparing Himself to a bronze snake. But back in the Book of Numbers, God sent a plague of venomous snakes upon Israel as punishment for their sin, and as a result they were dying from snake bites. Then God told Moses to lift up a bronze serpent on a pole. Anyone who looked at it—lived. What Jesus is saying is this: That's Me. Lifted up on a cross. Not for show. Not for religion. But so that anyone who turns to Me, who believes in Me, lives. The pardon has already been signed in Christ's blood on that Cross. The gift is waiting. But it only saves you when you receive it. That's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.