We are Called

I have seen this posted on social media many times. It is a good example of folks in the bible who came from less that great backgrounds but rose to prominence, or had failings along the way. They were normal folks for the most part, some were worse than others as far as their deeds. And others were like us when it comes to not being totally bought in Christians. God looks into our soul, he knows what we are capable of and he equips us to plow through our shortcomings to accomplish great things if we let him. Saying David had an affair dies not quite cover the fact that he had a man killed by placing him at the head of a fierce battle to cover his affair. Jonah ran, but the sin was his disobedience. Paul murdered or had killed those who were preaching the good news of Christ, the same Christ he would later meet on that lonely stretch of dusty road. They call Thomas a doubter, however he was just the first one to wonder how this could be. Zacheaus, well, he just wanted a better view and by doing so got Jesus attention and was able to have dinner with him. Abraham, was old but faithful. The faith of Lazarus and Jesus' compassion for his family brought him back to life. The others are also examples of God's intervention in the lives and hearts of people in the bible. But dig a little deeper and you will see that even though we too have shortcomings and commit sin, Jesus still asks us to turn from those sins and follow him. Nobody in the bible whom Jesus talked to that were sinners were allowed to walk their Journey with Jesus until they got their heart straight first. Paul ceased to be a Murderer. David lamented many times and asked for forgiveness from the one true God. Moses acknowledged his shortcomings but still gave God the glory. Do you see a pattern here? Today all too often, I hear non Christians saying things like, If Jesus were here he would be on our side. Or Jesus didn't judge.....really?? He loved/Loves always has always will. He always called/calls the sinner to service after he called/calls them to himself. You are called unto him first then sent to do his will in your life for him. We are not perfect, but that fact does in no way give us the right to willfully sin and call ourselves Christians. Do not think the above named individuals were given a pass due purely to their acknowledgement of Jesus, even the Devil knows the scriptures and knows who Jesus is. We were born spiritual creatures to serve God, but with sin in the world we have sinful desires and must overcome them by Faith in Jesus and surrender to his will in our lives. Anything short of that and we are only using his name as a way to get others to shut up and go away. God can use a flawed person, because we all are flawed. But what he can not use is an unrepentant person. So do not get caught up in the talk of tolerance, tolerance is another way of saying, it is OK to sin. Today, too many Christians buy into the notion that to be a good Christian is to be tolerant of others and what they do, however our example, Jesus, did not tolerate sin in any form, however loved the sinner unto himself. I have beat this drum many times, but it needs to be ingrained into our everyday lives, until sinners no longer can use that as an excuse but rather hear the good news, and that good news is that life with Jesus is much better than any life without him, and that an unrepentant heart really will seperate them from God for all eternity, what part of that is hard to understand? Know God...Know Peace...No God....No Peace....It really is just.....that....simple....