I greet you in Jesus' precious Name. It is Sunday morning, the 17th of September 2023, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today. 

We start off in the book of Titus 3:8:

This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

Now, before anybody says anything, I want to qualify something. You cannot earn your way to heaven by good works. Nobody knows that better than me. 

Ephesians 2:8 says: 

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.

The word Grace literally means undeserved loving-kindness or unmerited favour. Jesus is our ultimate example of good works. A week ago, I can hardly believe it, we were in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem in Israel. I was there with a team of over 300 pilgrims. It was a life-changing experience. In the Garden of Gethsemane, we sat, and we thought, and we meditated, and we repented, and we cried when we thought of the quality decision that Jesus made, which changed the destiny of the whole world forever. You say how come? Well, He said to His father in heaven, in Matthew 26:39 - "not as I will, but as You will". 

That's right, he chose to do it for you and I. He did not want to go to the cross, He did not want to be crucified, He was innocent, and yet He did it for your sake and my sake. If He had not made that decision, and He didn't want to by the way, but He did it, we are talking about good works, so that you and I would have an opportunity to have eternal life. He chose to do it. As a result of that, a young man was convicted in the Garden of Gethsemane, one of the men on our tour, and when we were having a service later on at David's Tower at the Jaffa Gate at the entrance to the old city, he came up in front of all of us, and he was weeping. He said: "I was convicted by what happened in the garden. I've been living with a lady for two years, and I feel guilty about it, and I love her". I said: "Where is she?" He said: "She's in the crowd". And in front of 300 pilgrims, that young man got on his knees and he proposed to the girl. They are now married. Why? Because of what Jesus had done for him. By doing good works and living a good Christian life, we influence people. 

Have a wonderful day. Jesus bless you and goodbye.