No Substitutes

Matthew 5:4 (KJV) Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

I have a confession! I’m a Splenda user. I don’t use the real thing, you know, sugar. I’ve gotten use to the substitute and don’t miss the sweetness of nature’s own. In today’s world we have settled for replacements to many of the things that were intended for us. Mourning is no exception. Jesus did not mean for His followers to live life with out joy. He did not intend for us to leave church and say “I’ve been to church and I’m depressed.” Jesus was not telling His disciples that they should be grim, cheerless Christians. Neither was He telling us that we should be in despair over the difficulties of life. Often it appears that too many followers of Christ have accepted the substitute for the real thing. The Gospel is not a club to beat us into submission but a light at the end of the tunnel. Jesus is Good News! We can say with the Psalmist, “You have turned my mourning into dancing!”
It is a blessed day when we see our sin for what it is, apart from grace, and begin to mourn over its devastating dimensions. Paul writes of the destruction of sin in Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” The soul of man is wicked and destitute, blinded by the god of this world, and lost in the misery of Satan’s schemes. Blessed is the man whose eyes have been opened by the Word of God and realizes his need for a savior. Paul continues in verse 17, “Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known:” Such is the plight of man without the grace of God. In a world that is careening out of control fulfilling every word of the above Scripture our only hope is that an anointed man or woman of God, under the control of the Holy Spirit, open the Word of God and release its light so that we might understand the depravity of sin and mourn!
The church today will fail to change the heart of sinners if we don’t lead them to the cross. Point them to a crucified Christ and tell them of their sin. Jesus knew that there could be no repentance without true mourning of the sin that destroys our soul. When we understand it was for our sin, our fallen nature, that Jesus was beaten, mocked, and crucified we not only mourn but we receive comfort. Oh, how He loves us! Oh, how he desires us! This changes everything.