For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Read that slowly and let it sink in for a minute. Did it scare you a little bit? It scared me a little when I really reflected on it. It’s something we don’t like to think about, being condemned. That’s a pretty strong word, especially when we think about a loving God. It’s easy to slip into a mindset that God is a loving God and would never allow anyone to be condemned. But the truth is He would never choose to have someone condemned, but He respects us enough to allow it. He gave us this pesky thing called Free Will so we have the power to choose how we live our lives. Another way to look at it is that He respected us so much He gave us freedom to do what we want, love Him or reject Him. So, does that mean God wants us to deny Him and be condemned? Absolutely not! We see example after example throughout scripture where He continues to give us chance after chance, always waiting for us to choose Him. Even if we choose to reject Him, He honors our wish, but I believe it is not with an angry resentment but rather with a tear in His eye. We are, after all, his children and He desires the absolute best for us, and His best is better than anything this world has to offer. He wants it so bad he sent His only son to die for us, so we could be with Him forever, if we choose to be.

Lent is a perfect time to reflect on this gift, to reflect on the pain that Jesus went through, so we could have the privilege of spending eternity with a God who loves us more than we can ever imagine. A time to walk through the valley that leads to the summit of Easter. I encourage you to spend some time this week reflecting on what God and Jesus have sacrificed for you and how you are responding to that sacrifice. Below are a couple questions to help you along the way:
1. Am I taking steps to carve out time for daily prayer?
2. Am I doing anything during Lent to help me draw closer to Christ?
3. If I died right now would God say “Well done, good and faithful servant” or “I never knew you.”
You can’t love what you don’t know. You get to know God through Prayer and Scripture. It’s not too late, God is waiting with open arms. Run to him.
Pax Christi,
John Mihalko