I like to think that by this point in my life, I'm bullet proof; I like to think it, I didn't say it was true. The fact is, that I am engaged in what Paul called "working out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Not easy, not easy at all. You see we have somehow redefined the terms that meant death, and changed them to gum drops and lollipops. Frankly, that is why people only get so far in their faith, and then check out. They are not prepared for the truth.
There was a popular song several years ago, and the lyrics of the chorus were: giving, caring, loving, sharing these are the marks of the cross. Oh, it sounds pretty, but it's nonsense. The marks of the cross are the marks of a torturous death. Being beaten, scourged and having nails driven into your hands and feet: these, dear soul, are the marks of the cross. But somehow, we interpret Christ saying, "If any man will come after me, let him take up his cross and follow me" to mean, go get a three bedroom two bath house, two cars and a fully funded retirement, and of course any trinkets that you must have along the way. Oh, and come to church on Sundays, won't you.
The indisputable fact at hand is that we are all going to die, the lost as well as the saved. The only thing left up for grabs, is how we are going to get there. That is why this country is obsessed with anything that keeps "me" from the inevitable. That is absolutely why we have such difficulty with evangelism; because, we are scared to death of what we have to offer. So, is that what we are to say? Come to this Christ, knowing that you will die? Is that enough? Yes, dear one, it is more than enough: because, we are not offering gum drops and lollipops, we are offering Christ! And only He has the words of life.
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