Tuesday, May 9, 2017
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Because we've spent so much time on Indian reservations over the years, the story I heard about one little Native American boy is especially meaningful to me. He lived with his Mom in a little hut on a reservation in the Southwest. His Dad had died, and that meant the boy had to take responsibility for their sheep at a pretty young age. One day a missionary passed through their village and he explained to the little boy how Jesus Christ died for him and wanted to be his Shepherd. And that day this little shepherd invited Jesus into his heart.
As the missionary was about to leave, he asked the boy if he could teach him a Bible verse. The boy said, "I don't think I can remember it." But the missionary gave him just five simple words from the Bible to remember. "The Lord is my Shepherd." But the missionary taught him a little trick for remembering it. He said, "Use the fingers of your right hand to help you remember 'The - Lord - is - my - Shepherd.' And when you get to the fourth word, wrap your left hand around the fourth finger of your right hand. 'The Lord is my Shepherd'." Well, the boy remembered it - really remembered it - as the missionary would learn when he returned one year later.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Two Words That Decide Eternity."
When the missionary revisited that village, he stopped by the hut where the little shepherd boy lived with his mother. He knocked on the door and the mother answered. When the missionary asked for her son, she said, "Oh, you didn't hear? Last winter a sudden blizzard hit us while my boy was out in the hills with the sheep. He didn't make it back. It was three days before they found him frozen to death."
The missionary couldn't muster any words except a quiet, "I'm sorry." Then Mom said, "You know, when they found my boy and they brushed all the snow off his body, they discovered something very unusual. His left hand was wrapped around the fourth finger of his right hand."
"The Lord is my Shepherd." Is He yours? It's possible that you know about Jesus, that you believe in Jesus, that you go to His meetings, maybe you even do things for Jesus. But somehow, you've never made Him yours. You've never made the Shepherd your Shepherd. You've never made the Savior your Savior.
The difference is two little words found in our word for today from the Word of God from Galatians 2:20. "I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." You stand at that cross that you may have known about all your life. You look up at the price the Son of God is paying there. And you say with your heart, "For me. He's dying there for me. It's my sin He's paying for." And then you say, again with all your heart, "Jesus, I'm Yours."
If you don't know you've done that, you probably haven't. Because it's a conscious choice. And you need to. Having Jesus in your head will never get you to heaven. He's got to be in your heart. This could be your day to finally move Him from your head to your heart so you don't miss heaven by those 18 inches.
Right now, wherever you are, would you talk to Jesus? That tug in your heart? That's not me; that's Him. Maybe you could talk to Him in words something like this: "Lord, I've been running my own life. I resign. I believe that when You died on that cross, You were paying for every one of my sins. And now I'm giving You what You paid for with your life - I'm giving You me."
That's the choice that changes everything, including your eternity. I want so much for you to be sure you belong to Him. That's why I'm going to urge you to go to our website, ANewStory.com, because right there you will find the information that will help you secure this relationship and know beyond any shadow of a doubt that now Jesus lives in your heart and you will live in His heaven.
Can you say it now? "The Lord is my Shepherd."