I recently saw a billboard that said a life jacket doesn't work if you are not wearing it. I thought about that I and realized the truth of that thought pertains to a lot of different things in our lives.
First, consider it as just a life jacket to be used around water. How many people drown each year because they aren't wearing a life jacket, which they usually have? Some of the reasons people give for not wearing the life jacket that I know of are: I'm a good swimmer and so I don't need one, forgetting that anyone can get a cramp. If we are on a boat, we sometimes say, well, it's right there and I can get to it real quick if I feel like I need it -- unless you fall out / off the boat and hit your head. I'm right here in the shallow water and I'm just wading. (Many lakes around here have drop offs -- our son almost drowned stepping off one.)
Let's consider a life jacket from the standpoint of our salvation in Jesus. It is freely available to and within reach of everyone (see John 3:16-17 and Romans 10:8-10) but still so many do not accept it. Some of the reasons I've known people to give are 1) I am a good person and I believe God is a truly loving God and if the good I do outweighs the bad, I'll be OK when the time comes. 2) I will ask Jesus into my life just before I die, I'm sure there will be time. 3) If I accept Jesus into my life it will limit my life because I won't be able to do all the fun stuff I want to do. 4) If God was real and Jesus loves us so much, why is there so much suffering and trouble in the world?
Before receiving salvation I had the same thoughts. I truly believed because I was a good moral person (according to MY standards) that God would not judge my sins but I have since learned the only righteousness God recognizes is the righteousness obtained through the shed blood of Jesus, which, like life jackets we have access to and refuse to, for one excuse or another, to put on.
I also realized that waiting until we've lived our lives as we want and planning to give my heart to Jesus was plain foolishness because we do not know the day or the hour we die and life is so fragile. How many people die instantly in an accident of some kind or the other or they go to sleep and never wake up? Also, we have no idea when Jesus is going to return but we do know There will not be time for repentance at that time for the scriptures tell us 'But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" 2nd Peter 3:10 and "Be ye therefore ready for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not." Luke 12:40
Being a Christian does put some boundaries on our lives because we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, both in the world and in the church watching how we are behaving as Christians. They watch to see if we truly walk the life we say we believe or we are all talk. I have also realized that every action people do has consequences in their lives and most of what they think of as fun really isn't fun at all.
Some of the consequences of the "fun" we give as a reason to not accept Jesus that we don't want to miss include hangovers, sexually transmitted diseases (some of which are fatal), financial problems caused by alcoholism, drug addiction as well as divorces causing children to be raised in single parent homes not to mention all the totally disrupted lives of all those around us; friends, family co-workers and the like, for we never just affect ourselves. Yeah, a lot of fun, that.
I believe that without Jesus there is an emptiness, a big hole in our lives and it's only when we accept Him as savior that then, and only then, are we made a whole person. Yes, it may take time to "repair" hurts and other consequences and some will never be completely restored but without Him, there only remains that awful hole that cannot be filled with anything this world has to offer.
Just as I will always advise everybody to wear a life jacket when around water, and a seat belt when riding in a vehicle (front OR back) I urge everyone to accept the sacrifice Jesus made and put on the garment of His righteousness. Just ask Him into your lives. As the scriptures say 'if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved' Romans 10:9 and PUT THAT (eternal) LIFE JACKET ON. Both are within easy reach. What excuse is keeping you from putting them on?
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Editor's note: Charlie Newman is pastor of Avoca Christian Church. To contact him, e-mail [email protected], or write in care of The Times at [email protected] or P.O. Box 25, Pea Ridge, AR 72751.
Religion on 09/03/2014