Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The Big Fix

Let me tell you a story to help you understand the "Big Fix." There was this girl, we'll call her Jan, who grew up in a family where her dad drank a lot. Her mom blamed herself for his drinking and she did everything she could to fix that. Consequently, the love relationship between her mom and dad was, well, nothing that she would want to copy for herself later in life. Jan didn't understand at the time but her parent's relationship would be her model for later in life. Because her parents were so into their own issues, they didn't really know how to show love to the little girl either. Oh, they loved her, and she loved them, but it wasn't a love that was comforting.


As Jan grew up, she searched for love in the same way it was modeled for her. Her first boyfriend drank, just like her dad. He told her he loved her and she loved him back. In fact, she did everything she could to make the relationship work. She even gave him the gift of her virginity. Then he dumped her, leaving a gaping hole in her heart where true love is

supposed to live.


Jan tried to fill that gaping hole with alcohol, sex and drugs. For a while, that worked and it was even fun! Fourteen years, many boyfriends and one husband later, she realized she was tired of having that life. Oh, sure, she looked successful on the outside, but inside she was empty and confused. Nothing was the way she thought it would be. To make matters worse,

she couldn't fix it.


"Of course, you can't fix your own life," a friend told her one day.


"What's up with that? Why not?" Jan retorted.


"Because we're not created to run our own lives," the friend answered.


"Yeah, right. If I can't do anything to fix my own life, who can?" questioned Jan.


Enter the Big Fix:


Jan's friend had this explanation: "We were created by God to have a relationship with Him. (Yeah, I didn't know that either.) The weird thing is we can't have a relationship with Him because He's holy and we're not. Holy can't mix with unholy and we're born unholy. We are born wanting to do our own thing which is usually opposite of God's idea for our lives. That's called "sin" and sin is what separates us from God."


"Okay, so now what?" Jan asked.


"Well, God loves us so much that He made a Fix for this mess. You know how when you go to work and get paid, that paycheck is called your wages, right? The wages for sin is death. We sin, our paycheck is death. God sent His son, Jesus, to die in our place. That's right, a couple of thousand years ago, Jesus was crucified for your sins and mine. Jesus got the paycheck for our sins! Not only that, but because Jesus did that, in God's eyes now we are holy! Whoa! God did His part to have a relationship with us, now we have to do our part. We get to choose."


"Sounds too good to be true. I have a lot of crummy things in my past. Jesus would want a relationship with me?" wondered Jan.


Her friend replied. "Everything from your past could be wiped out and forgiven on the cross! Turn to Jesus, ask Him to run your life and you get a clean slate. THAT IS THE BIG FIX!"


So my question to you is: Is the way you're living your life now working for you? Is it time to draw the line and start over? I'm telling you that you can, no matter what you have done. You can change your life. You see, my name is Jan, and I did choose to let Jesus run my life. That big gaping hole in my heart is filled with True Love. It is the best fix I could ever dream of.