Matthew 7 - Part 3

 

 Read Matthew 7

If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

If everyone could be a Marine, it wouldn’t be the Marines.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

Life is full of choices and consequences and decisions good and bad.

God decided that he wanted you with him for all eternity.  You are his child.  You are made in his image.  You have sinned.

God decided that he loved you so much that he would do everything necessary to remove the stain of sin from your life.  Christ died for me.  He died for you.  By his wounds, by his blood, we are healed.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  Jesus has called us friend.  Jesus gave his life for us.  We are saved.  We are redeemed.

How will we live?

There is a single way to life.  His name is Christ Jesus.  All eternity lies in receiving him as Lord.  He is Savior of all but few receive him as Lord.

You are reasonably free to do whatever you want.  If you spit in the grits you might get punched in the nose, but you are still free to make your choices.

Not every choice we make is profitable.  Some diminish the fruit that we were meant to produce.

Some choices destroy these vessels in which we live.

Some put us on the road to destruction.   But I thought Christ died for all.  I thought he made the atoning sacrifice for my sins?

He did.  His gift is free but will we receive it?  Will we profess him as Lord?

Some want to say the words for a Get Out of Hell Free ticket.  They want Jesus to save them but don’t want him as Lord.  They want to be their own Lord.

They have dissonance in their hearts and minds.  It’s one thing to struggle to live right in God’s eyes and another to wrestle with whether you want Jesus as Lord or not.

Many are playing a game with salvation and eternal life.  Many are playing chicken with making an eternal commitment to live with Jesus as Lord.

Many want to hedge their bets just in case this Jesus thing is too much for them.

Many are on the broad path that leads to destruction.  Remember that even the demons know who Jesus is and it scares the hell out of them.

We have been offered a free gift of life and life eternal in the blood of Jesus but many choose to wait and see, try everything else first, or just joke about hell.

Jesus doesn’t want you to come to him out of fear, but does want you to receive him as Lord.  Many will not take his yoke.

Let’s make this another simple dichotomy.  Jesus is Lord over your life or he is not.

If he is Lord, then you follow him and your serve him and you do it at the expense of every other competing thing in your life.

Jesus is Lord!

As for me and my house we will serve the Lord!

In these simple words lie the narrow path and life.

Amen.