While on a plane flight, I watched an episode of the American TV crime drama “The Blacklist”, staring the brilliant James Spader.
Besides enjoying the taut suspense, I was intrigued by an apparent power that Spader’s character had: he could suppress the terrible memories of people he wanted to protect.
“I’m a sin eater,” he tells co-star Megan Boone, who portrays a deeply troubled FBI profiler, in a 2015 episode. “I absorb the misdeeds of others, darkening my soul to keep theirs pure. That is what I’m capable of.”
How’s that for an amazing ability? Imagine if a real person could do such a thing? It certainly didn’t make Spader’s character, FBI fugitive Raymond Reddington, a happy person. So would a real life person use such a power?
Well, prepare yourself for a little controversy because a real person DOES have that power and uses it all the time.
His name? Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is the son of God.
Stick with me while I explain.
More than 2,000 years ago, Jesus was physically on this earth, walking around Israel with a band of rag-tag followers and telling anyone who would listen that God was not a far-off, angry entity.
He was (and is) in the hearts and minds of anyone who would welcome Him, passionately loving that person and offering them an eternal place in Heaven.
The problem? This perfect God could not, and cannot, stand the “sin” that you and I commit. That means the wrong things we do every day and the right things we fail to do every day. That means turning our backs on God and living like He doesn’t exist.
God sent Jesus to fix that through an extraordinary process: Jesus, who was (and is) as perfect as His Father, became our sin eater, absorbing our misdeeds and taking the punishment for them by dying on a Roman cross.
Anyone who believes in Jesus and follows Him has their sins absorbed and their soul made pure through his sacrificial death and resurrection three days later.
This means when this life is finished and His followers appear before God, the wrong things they’ve done and the right things they’ve failed to do are wiped out. Jesus followers are as pure in God’s eyes as Jesus Himself.
This strikes me as a pretty good deal. That’s why, after much consideration, after reading many books and after debating with some brave Jesus followers, I decided to accept that deal.
So Jesus lives in my heart and mind. The more I listen to His leading, the better my life is.
This same deal is available to you, no matter what you’ve done (or not done), no matter how dark (or light) your soul may be.
Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.
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