Friday, December 23, 2005
It was Christmastime and two-year-old Timmy was sitting on his aunt's lap. He was ready to get down. His Aunt Gayle gave her usual requirement for letting him go, "You can't get down until you say the magic words." In case you've forgotten, the magic words are "pretty please with sugar and honey on the top." Except for this time. Timmy turned to his aunt and simply replied: "Unto you is born this day a Savior which is Christ the Lord."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You about "Those Christmas Magic Words."
Those really are the magic words; especially two of them - "unto you." And that's the part so many good people have missed. It's possible you've missed it. And Jesus is coming close to you this Christmas so you don't miss Him any longer, because if you miss Jesus, you'll miss heaven.
Jesus' coming was personal - very personal. It was unto you. You can sit in church your whole life and miss making Jesus personal for you. You can know all about Him, you can go to His meetings, give to His causes, even do a lot of good things for Him and somehow never have that moment when you grab Him with both hands to be your Savior from your sin. Picture those people stranded on their rooftops in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and that rescuer coming down that cable to save them. He was their only hope, and they grabbed him like he was. They wrapped themselves around that rescuer from above, holding on with everything they had.
That's what you need to do with Jesus. When did you do that? You may not remember an exact time, but if you don't know you did it, you probably didn't. You know if you've told Jesus you're pinning all your eternal hopes on Him - just like a person knows whether or not they're married. It's a conscious choice. You know if you did it or not.
Your sin is just too serious for any amount of religion to erase. It took Jesus pouring out His life on the cross to pay the death penalty for your sin to rescue you. He becomes your Savior when you grab Him like those hurricane victims grabbed their rescuer. Two words make the difference. They're found in Galatians 2:20, our word for today from the Word of God. "I live my life by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." There are the words - "for me." Has there ever been a time when you, in your heart, stood at the foot of Jesus' cross and said, "For me. Lord, what You did here was for Me. And I'm giving me to you."
If not, you stand at risk of being in the group of church folks that Jesus described in Matthew 7:21. He said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven." These people will go on to talk about all the Christian things they have done and "then I will tell them plainly," Jesus said, "I never knew you." ( Matthew 7:23) I don't ever want you to hear those awful words. Neither does He.
That's why you've been given this opportunity today to finally make Jesus your personal Savior. For you He was born. For you He died. And now He's calling to you to come to Him. Don't miss Him. Here on the edge of celebrating His coming to earth, He will come into your life. Just tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours from this day on. I believe You died for me and I'm giving me to You right now."
That's a choice I would love to help you make. I encourage you to drop by our website. It's yoursforlife.net, and there you can either read what I've written about beginning a relationship with Jesus or you can listen to my simple explanation of this commitment. Maybe you'd like to receive the Yours for Life booklet in the mail. Then just call us toll-free today at 877-741-1200.
This could be your personal Jesus-day; the day that changes everything - the day that changes your eternity.