January 26, 2023
Download MP3 (right click to save)
It was many centuries ago in a remote village in India. Word began to spread that something was about to happen that no one had seen in their lifetime - the prince was actually coming to visit this forgotten little village. Well, everyone was excited, but no one was more excited than the village beggar. Every day he eked out another day by sitting by the road with his little cup, hoping to get enough money to buy some rice to live one more day. He actually had two cups, one for collecting money and one for a few grains of rice. But now the prince was coming. I mean, the wealthy prince! And when that prince finally arrived, the beggar mustered his most impassioned appeal, "Alms! Alms for the poor!" And the prince stopped. The beggar's heart was pounding furiously.
"Give me your cup of rice." That's all the prince said. The beggar slumped down in disbelief. Here was the wealthiest man in the land, asking for his lousy little cup of rice. The beggar was about to refuse, but instead he reached in. He put three grains of rice in the prince's hand. The prince turned to his servant and said, "Bring me the bag of gold." The beggar could hardly contain himself. He eagerly stretched out his empty collection cup. The prince reached into his bag and placed three grains of gold in the beggar's cup. And then he disappeared, never to return, but leaving the beggar to wonder for the rest of his life what would have happened if I had given him my whole cup of rice?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "What You Miss When You Miss Jesus."
Jesus, the Prince of Heaven, may be passing your way today with so much to give you. The forgiveness of every sin you've ever committed, a new beginning, the peace that has eluded you your whole lifetime, and an eternity with Him in heaven. He wants to make you spiritually rich.
In fact, it was very expensive for Him to be able to offer you the heaven that you don't deserve instead of the death penalty that your sin does deserve. In our word for today from the Word of God, God describes the unspeakable sacrifice Jesus made to rescue us. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" (grace, by the way, means undeserved love) "that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich."
When God's Son, the Prince of Heaven, is hanging on that blood-stained cross, He is totally impoverishing Himself so you can have God's love, so you can have God's resources, so you can have God's heaven. It's hard for us to see that we're the beggar, but the Bible says we're spiritually bankrupt because our running of our own life has cut us off from our Creator. Only Jesus can bring us back. God says, "While we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly."
Your life is as big as you can make it, and it's nowhere near enough, is it? Jesus has chosen to pass your way today, asking you to turn over to Him the life that He gave you and the life He died for.
You ready to trade what you have for what Jesus has? Would you tell Him that right now? Tell Him you're putting all your trust in Him. And let me encourage you to visit our website. I've laid out briefly there and non religiously the way you can begin your relationship with Jesus and know you did. The website's ANewStory.com.
Please, don't make the eternal mistake of hanging onto your little cup of rice and missing Jesus' bag of gold.