To the Utmost: The utmost is God who abhors sin andfully practice...

To the Utmost: The utmost is God who abhors sin andfully practice...: The utmost is God who abhors sin and fully practices the rule of justice. People ought to plead with him to have their iniquities forgiven...

The utmost is God who abhors sin and fully practices the rule of justice. People ought to plead with him to have their iniquities forgiven. It doesn't matter if these iniquities are large or small. To be truly liberated persons have to do so through his grace. Only then will they find joy, peace, courage, and hopefulness in life. God is most compassionate and truly understands who we really are. So you be blessed in all richness by him.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 – 1968), an American baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement observed that “human progress is neither automatic or inevitable … Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” Our sins not only have to be confessed by those who lead us, but they have to set the example by the way they live. This example to which King Jr. was alluding may well be tests of fire mixed with perseverance in serving Christ.

Sins of our Youth

When people think about youth, they may call to mind a person's chronological age. However, this quote by Arthur Shopenhauer (1788 – 1860), a German philosopher, best known for his 1818 work The World Will and Representation envisioned youth differently, “Each day is a little life: every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death.” To Shopenhauer youth is a process of living that takes different forms. It's a conscience which is burdened then revived through acts of redemption. It's practical, persons can be in bondage yet not free of their sins. Youth is also the sickness of the soul, debt, and the saving grace which we get from God.

Temporal Enjoyment

Temporal enjoyment may well lead to having a rope around our neck, provocation, God's punishment for sins, and a hardening of our hearts. Alphonsus Liquori (1696 -1787), an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian pointed out that “what grieves me more in my past offenses, O my loving God, is not so much the punishment I have deserved, as the displeasure I have given You, Who are worthy of infinite love.” Whatever Liquori's sins were, he could never have robbed God of his glory, but however he greatly regretted his offenses in not loving God the right way.

No Hope of Mercy

Why do people allow themselves to descend so low that there's no hope of God's mercy? Such non believers will face the pit of eternal misery and the curse of hell. To be eternally damned is the most dreadful curse that can ever happen to a soul. Still, they will be those who put the service of Satan before that of the living and true God. Such offenders will be sinning against the Holy Spirit who continue to reject God. These persons the Gospels warn will lose their souls.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962), an American politician, diplomat, activist, and the longest serving First Lady of the United States, holding the post from 1933 to 1945 commented that “it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” Roosevelt has clearly given us a good reason for living our life successfully. It's for us to do what's right in the sight of God by lighting candles in our darkness.

A non believer must repent of his sins, get to know the one true living God, love his fellowmen, and serve them faithfully. This is the epitome of what lighted candles must mean to Christians. It's this light that dispels any darkness which threatens to tarnish our souls. Forgiveness is a free gift from God, so why not seek it? It's all there for the asking. People must do so with repentant hearts in order to walk victoriously in his ways.