Mark 3:19
This past weekend I was in my hometown state: North Carolina. It was great to be home. I hadn’t seen that many trees in I don’t know how long, and there is something always inviting about familiar names. Not just people’s names, but road signs, counties, cities, etc. I knew I was making my way back when I got to Asheville, and saw the Interstate 26/74 sign. You see, I live about a mile off of 74. Maybe a little further away, but close enough that when I lived back home, I would drive that road almost every day.
From that point on, I began to see signs that reminded me of all that I used to do: hunt and play sports, study at middle school, high school, and part of college, and even eat at all the local spots. I had a ton of good memories, and then I had some memories I wasn’t so proud of. Unfortunately it was the bad memories that I seemed to dwell on the most.
But that’s just like humans. We tend to dwell on the negative. When someone does something wrong that is what we most often seem to remember. The Bible times are no different. I mean, in the same section of Mark chapter three where we just looked at Simon’s name being changed to Peter (verse 16), we see a list of individuals where nothing is recorded until the last person is mentioned. It is this last person who is tagged with a negative description (verse 19).
It’s so interesting to me that this is how the book of Mark describes the twelve. This whole section is on the twelve disciples that Jesus picked, yet when the author of Mark mentioned Judas, he had to put the negative. To put it a different way, this section didn’t mention the good things each did, it just mentioned Judas’ negative. Not that my input matters really, but that frustrates me. If nothing else, it makes me think of how people remember me.
I mean, I have lived in several places in the U.S. and I have things in each of those cities that I’m not proud of. In North Carolina alone there are several things I wouldn’t want people to remember. For instance, my seventh grade science teacher said she didn’t know if I had the love of Jesus in my heart. I would constantly get in fights at one of the churches my dad worked in. In high school I was constantly a sarcastic punk to all of those in authority over me. All these things were true, but they don’t define me now. I was a loser and a jerk in how I treated people including my parents, but things have changed in my life. I’m by no means perfect, but I’m different than I used to be.
Just as the Scriptures talk negatively of Judas, we must remember that it is because of Judas, and God using that situation, that Jesus was found and then crucified for our sins. Sure we can get on to Judas all we want for betraying Jesus. But the truth is, Judas’ betrayal made it possible for us to have eternal salvation.
I’m not trying to justify my old actions or even some of my current stupidity. But what I am saying is this. We can look at people in a negative light if we want to, but God works so differently than we do – His thoughts are different than our thoughts, His ways are different than our ways. That has to be of some comfort. I mean, despite Judas’ major betrayal and mistake, God used him. I think we could even safely say that Judas was created to help God fulfill His purposeful plan of saving us.
Just like Judas, we too are created for a purpose. Whatever your life story is, with all the skeletons in your closet, God has and is preparing you to make a difference in the lives of all you come in contact with. My friend Betsy had to tell me this the other day, and so I am telling you now, “You have a contribution to make that no one else can make for you. You are where you are supposed to be.”
So here’s the deal. We are going to make mistakes, and some people are going to remember us for some of the negative things in our life. But God sees the bigger picture. If only today, forget about the mistakes, lean into Him, and be excited that you have a purpose and God is using you in ways that only you can be used. That’s how much God loves us. He created us to be active participants in fulfilling His dream for the World – A dream where we are the main characters, flaws and all.