Monday, September 25, 2006
Occasionally I see that bumper sticker that says, "I brake for antique shops." I'm not a bumper sticker guy, but we could qualify for that one. I guess it depends on who's driving - my wife or me. If it's my wife, we're a lot more likely to break for an antique shop. But my wife is not so much into collecting old stuff, it's about finding items that she had as a girl growing up on a farm that had few modern conveniences. And she's got an eye for what's real and what's just a reproduction: Depression Glass, pottery, butter churns, even old violins. Take the famous Stradivarius violin - there are relatively few originals. There are a lot of copies.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Decisive Difference."
Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between what's real and what's a copy - in antiques and in people; especially people who claim that they belong to Jesus Christ. Jesus described both the real ones and the copies in the story He told in Matthew 13, beginning in verse 24. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared." Jesus said the man's servants wanted to go out and pull up the weeds, but he stopped them. "'No,' He answered, 'because while you are pulling out the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'"
When Jesus explained His parable later, He made clear that the wheat represents those who really belong to Him, and the weeds; they represent those who look like they belong to Him, but don't. That's a very sobering thought - sitting next to one another in church may be two people who sing the same songs, believe the same beliefs, say the same words, but one is headed for heaven and the other is headed for hell. And no one on earth can tell the difference. But on Judgment Day it will be very clear who was the real and who was the look-alike. That's why God says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith."
For some of us church folks, this business of being a Christian is a religion, or a performance, or maybe a belief, or a script where we've got all the right words. You can have all that and miss what it really is; a personal relationship with Jesus, based on His dying for your sins - a relationship you begin the day you put your total trust in Jesus, consciously giving all of you to Him. With all your Christianity, it's possible you may have missed Christ, even though everyone around you thinks you know Him.
It's hard to admit that you've never really given yourself to Jesus, but it's fatal not to. So would you let this be the day that you consciously and clearly make Jesus Christ your personal Savior from your personal sin. If you're ready to begin that relationship for real today, then I hope you'll go to our website where there's some very valuable information. It's helped a lot of other people begin their relationship with Jesus. You just go to yoursforlife.net. Or if you'd rather receive it in booklet form it's called "Yours For Life." Just call us toll free at 877-741-1200.
There is all the difference in the world between someone who really belongs to Jesus and someone who just looks like they do. It's the difference between heaven and hell.