A World On Probation

A World On Probation.

In any prison system you will find a few things to be universally true. One of those things is all the prisoners have been convicted of a crime. Another truth is not all are guilty of that crime for which they are convicted but the majority of them are. You'll find those who are very deserving of their sentence and those who aren't as deserving. You will even find some completely innocent - at least of the crime for which they are in prison for. You'll find some who are evil through and through in their actions and given half a chance they'd do over everything exactly as they did before. You'll find others who are just biding their time and are planning on being much more careful in their criminal life later on should they get out. You'll also find those who are truly remorseful for what they've done and they swear they would never ever commit that crime again, never. One thing is certain many criminals serve their time and when they are released regardless of their remorse or lack thereof, they are put on probation. They are let out of prison and into society once more and told to behave because they're being watched. At anytime their probation officer can show up and demand certain things from them in order to prove they're behaving. They live under probation for a set period of time and it's basically set up so that the caretakers of society can watch them and determine if it was the right thing to do, releasing them from prison. They hope it's the right thing because making a mistake is very costly. Often you'll hear of some atrocity committed by some criminal who was let out on probation, some criminal that had they never been released would never have committed the second crime. Yet on the opposite side of things you have those who are released and go on to become upstanding members of the community. It's a gamble when the criminal is released because there is no guarantee on the outcome of their lives. A trust is placed in them to not return to a life of crime, and yet it's a trust that is easily broken and yet we don't end the system of probation even though the trust has been broken over and over and over and most would say the system is very broken. We continue the system of probation because we really need to hope that it works in most cases and we can't deprive people of that opportunity to show they've reformed, that they won't continue down a path of crime. If we kept every criminal in jail forever we might find he majority of the population would be in there, or at least such a vast part of it that we'd need a system other than us building prisons and tending to them.


In the beginning God created a perfect world. A twist of fate created the first criminal, the first abberation, the first sin. God is God knowing all there is to know. Knowing right from wrong, knowing good from evil.


To keep all evil from ruling God created creatures that could choose one or the other. Because a great evil exists in creating creatures without choice. There is a hollow emptiness that is void of true love when there is no choice. Take what we call love between a man and a woman, a husband and wife. When a marriage is prearranged and no choice given to either party it is entered out of duty and because the choice isn't there it is just one more aspect of life that holds very little emotional value- it is in reality another job in life. When a person is allowed to choose the one they marry there is joy involved that isn't there when the marriage isn't made out of choice.


Being allowed to choose the different paths we take in life is enriching in many ways. Being a slave without any choice in the path our lives take is what we call inhumane and we call it that because choice is so amazingly important a part of being the creatures that we are. Slavery is horrific and abolished by law around the world- of course that doesn't mean it doesn't exist because it does in astounding numbers. Taking away choice is an evil, allowing to choose is freedom. One is good, one is bad.


A God of love could never create an intelligent being and strip them of the freedom of choice without being evil. Our God of love created beings with choice knowing that the creatures created might choose to embrace evil. Because our God knew this was possible and because He knew that Good is triumphant over Evil, He not only created one very intelligence sort of creation, He created another.


When the first sort of creation became corrupted God knew that things would have to unfold to the point beyond any doubt that the corrupted things must be done away with if any of the creations were to survive and not be obliterated out of existence entirely. When the first creation corrupted the second creation it was even more important that this entire scene unfold so that the power of choice could remain intact while ridding all of creation of the evil that had been brought into it. Once the choice was made the good should rule over evil the choice had to extend to ALL of the created beings and when given a choice there comes a time of choosing. First there is a time of revelation- where all beings are allowed to witness the outcomes of their choices by understanding what exist before them right then.


Good verses Evil.


Choices to make.


You have that choice, I have that choice and we live in a world on probation with probation quickly winding down to a point where once probation is up the world will be made new with those who have decided to choose good over evil. When a criminal's probation is up it is up by one of a few ways- it's up because they've chosen to remain good and are free to live without probation hanging over them any longer, or it is up because they've been put back into prison because they've chosen not to remain acceptable to society, they've chosen not to remain good; or they've died which has taken away any choice at all. Those are three ways probation is over. When the world's probation is up there will be those who have chosen the path of goodness found only in the salvation and mercy, the rightousness of Jesus Christ; or there will be those who have chosen the path of evil found in Satan and the many disguises He uses to keep us from salvation in Christ. Also, when the world's probation is up there will be those who are dead and they will be either dead in Christ, or dead without Christ.


Make no mistake about the world's probation coming to a close. We've been given a very reliable testament to its closing. The timetable given to us is unfolding faster and faster as we were told it would. We don't know when the last bell will sound, but we are given plenty of warning bells before hand. The bells are ringing faster and faster now and soon the world's probation will be over, all choices made.


Revelation {22:20} He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. {22:21) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.


Amen.


Amen.


Amen.


May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with us all, now and forever!