Monday, September 4, 2006
I've stood at many a wedding altar as the minister before lots of brides and grooms, but this one was different. The beautiful bride, glowing in her elegant white dress, was our only daughter. Man, what a thrill it was to perform her wedding, and to watch her commit herself unconditionally to a wonderful young man. She is a great son picker. And, of course, I watched him commit himself to her. I had the privilege of watching that relationship grow over three and a half years to the point from her first discovery of him on a missions trip, and then her deepening love for him. Then all of the experiences they had together that build trust, the joy of their engagement, and the months of preparation for the wedding day. There were a lot of important stages that led up to that glorious moment, but something decisive happened that day at the altar. Everything else was important, but it was just preparation. And it all came down to a magic moment on a life-changing day for my daughter. Maybe there's a moment like that for you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "That Life Changing Moment."
Our word for today from the Word of God is Matthew 13:37-41. It's from a disturbing parable that Jesus told, but it has life-saving truth. He told about a man with a wheat field, and this competitor came in and sowed weeds in the middle of the wheat, and you couldn't tell them apart. It was a mess trying to figure out what was what. The servants wanted to go out and try to pull up the weeds, and the master said, "You won't be able to tell the difference." A little later, he began to explain to the disciples what this meant. Jesus said "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field was the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom." That's the people who belong to Jesus. "The weeds are the sons of the evil one" - that's the ones who don't belong to Jesus - "and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up (at the harvest) and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil." In other words, all those who are unforgiven and who don't belong to Jesus Christ.
Now, notice. You can't tell the difference between the wheat (the real Christians), and the weeds (the ones who look like them). And I think that's true today. I mean, literally according to what Jesus is saying here, you can have sitting in church next to each other, one person who knows Christ and is going to heaven, and another who doesn't and is headed for a Christless eternity. They sing the same songs, they know the same words, and they do all the same things. The difference is that life-changing moment.
Jesus described it over in John 5:24. He said, "Whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent Me has eternal life, and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." There's a moment when you consciously choose Jesus Christ to be your Savior. You pin all your hopes on Him to give you a relationship with God.
Lots of church people have discovered Jesus, as my daughter and her husband discovered each other, they've increasingly grown to appreciate Him and even to love Jesus. They've learned about Jesus. They've done things for Him. And they think based on all of that, that they must have a saving relationship with Christ, but there's never been that moment when they've taken Jesus' hand and said, "From today on, Lord, I'm all yours. I am forsaking all others. You are number one in my life. I belong totally to you, Jesus, and I know you've loved me enough to die for me and you've won my heart, and I'm giving it to you today." That's when you cross from death to life.
Do you know there's been a time when you consciously gave yourself to Jesus? You say, "I'm not sure." Then you probably haven't. You look like, and act like, and behave like a Christian, but there's never been the time when you gave yourself to Jesus. That moment could come today, as you do it right where you are.
We'd love to help you do that. If you'll go to our website, you'll find some help there in beginning your relationship with Him. It's yoursforlife.net. Or you could call for my little booklet about it called "Yours For Life" at 877-741-1200. As surely as my daughter will always know the day she became a wife, you could always know the day you began to belong to Jesus Christ.