A Few Good Men

“A Few Good Men”

The United States Marine Corp has a saying that they are “Looking For A Few Good Men”. The idea behind that saying is that they will take a few good men and turn them into great Marines. This is a good slogan with a good meaning behind it. But I wonder what would happen if a bus load of scoundrels, dirt bags, low life’s, drug and alcohol addicts, criminals and killers showed up at the recruiting office at the same time? Would the Marines’ turn them away because they weren’t a few and they weren’t “good” men?

The Kingdom of God has a totally different slogan – “Whoever will come and find mercy, grace, and forgiveness”. You don’t have to be good, perfect or clean for Jesus to invite you to join His family. HE will do the job of forgiving you and cleaning you up once you accept His invitation. He will not just make you a good man, but He will make you a new creation that is a Godly man.

It amazes me that Jesus intentionally seeks to save those who are lost. He died on a cross to redeem all of mankind – the good, the bad, the horrible, the terrible, and the ugly. Those whom the Marines and most of the rest of the world would reject are the very ones that Jesus can redeem and give them a new start.

Jesus ALWAYS accepts us, but He doesn’t accept our sin. But instead of rejecting us because of our sin, when we confess our sin to Him, He washes it away and treats us like it never happened. The Bible is full of characters that were sinful in every way possible. But when they became a part of God’s family, they turned into the very Bible heroes that we read about and admire.

Don’t wait until you think that you are good enough or that you have cleaned your act up enough to come to Jesus. He will accept you as you are, but He won’t leave you that way. He will forgive you, redeem you, and begin the process of making you a new creation that can be used in His Kingdom. The Bible reminds us in Isaiah 1:18 that “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.”

Not only does He cleanse us of our sins, but He also doesn’t remember them anymore. So that dirty rotten scoundrel has a new start with a new desire to not be the old evil person that they were. Aren’t you glad that we don’t have to be “good enough” to be accepted by God. He takes us, as we are, and makes us into something new, Holy, righteous, redeemed, born again, Child of God.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs