Read Luke 12:54-13:21
Karma is the idea that our actions—good or bad—bring about equally corresponding results. “What goes around comes around.” “Sow goodness, reap goodness.” This way of thinking resonates deeply with us because it places power and control in our hands. But it is not an accurate picture of reality as Scripture reveals it.
Because we are inclined toward this mindset, when hardship or tragedy strikes, we instinctively search for meaning or explanation. We ask questions like, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” And sometimes—though rarely out loud—we even wonder what someone must have done to deserve what has happened to them.
Jesus directly challenges this way of thinking. He makes it clear that there is no cosmic scorekeeping system in which God dispenses judgment on a strict tit-for-tat basis. Such thinking assumes that we begin on fairly good terms with God, minimizes the sin woven into our daily lives, and quietly redefines what offends God so that we can continue to see ourselves as doing “pretty well.” But Scripture tells us otherwise. Death is the judgment that awaits all people because of sin, and before God, death is death—it has no degrees.
Apart from God’s mercy, found only in Jesus Christ, judgment is the only outcome. That is why Jesus calls us to repentance: to honestly acknowledge our sin and cling to His forgiveness. Repentance is not despair, but the doorway to life.
For this reason, tragedy—whether in our own lives or in the lives of others—should never lead us to speculate about individual judgment from God. Instead, it confronts us with the reality of sin and judgment that touches all humanity. At the same time, it directs us to remember with thanksgiving that while we may experience tragedy or temporal death, Jesus died for us so that we would not die eternally.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for suffering the judgment of death in my place and giving me the promise of eternal life. Amen.