Is Becoming a Christian Beneath You?
Jesus says, take the water of life freely. He wants no payment or preparation. He seeks no recommendation from our virtuous emotions. If you have no good feelings, but you are willing, you are invited—so come! If you have no belief or ability to repent, come to Jesus and He will give them to you. Come, just as you are, and take the water of life freely, without any price. He gives himself to needy ones. Drinking fountains in our cities are valuable things, and we can hardly imagine anyone so foolish as to stand in front of one, take out his wallet, and cry, “I can’t drink because I don’t have five dollars in my pocket.” Where there is a fountain, a person can drink from it just as he is, however poor. Thirsty people walking through the city, whatever their status, do not need any reason for drinking—the fountain’s presence is their justification for freely taking its water. The generosity of some person or group has put the refreshing water there; we take it and ask no questions. Perhaps the only people who remain thirsty near a drinking fountain are the fine ladies and gentlemen in their fancy vehicles. They may be very thirsty, but they can’t lower themselves to get out and take a drink. It would demean them, they think, to use a common drinking fountain, so they ride by with parched lips. Oh, how many there are who trust in their own good works and therefore cannot come to Christ! “I will not be saved,” they say, “in the same way as a prostitute or the profane. What? Go to heaven in the same way as a chimney sweep? Is there no pathway to glory but the one that led the thief there? I will not be saved that way.” Proud boasters will always go without the living water. But whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.- C.H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening
An interesting thought isn't it?
It may not be so much that you consider it silly or stupid that sin exists or that you are born with it, but rather that if you acknowledge it and follow through with the only cure for it, that you might be looked down upon for it?
Does the very notion that your sinful life and that of a common street beggar are really the same bother you that much?
Does the success you enjoy so much right now in your life mean that much to you that you would turn away from the only means of curing the disease you have?
Is it really a false sense of embarrassment that bugs you?
My Friend, let go of your pride in this thing called becoming a Christian.
Cancer is totally impartial, doesn't care about your lifestyle, your bank account, how healthy you are. It can strike in a quick fashion and shut down your body in days. Sin is a disease far worse and you are born with it.
Sin deceives you into believing that the lusts of your flesh and the pride of life aren't so bad.
Sin deceives you into living a carefree life apart from God until that day you find you missed out on Salvation in Jesus Christ. When you will have learned too little too late that what might have been slipped through your fingers.
You will be deceived into believing that if you choose to come to Christ that all your 'fun' will be gone. That you will be missing out on living. Satan cares not that you end up in Hell, he just doesn't want you to show up in Heaven.
Satan has never been in Hell. He knows what's there and knows who ends up there. He knows that is a place where men and women end up for their rejection of Jesus Christ. Satan, until a certain point in the events of the book of Revelation, only shows up in Heaven daily and roams the Earth seeking someone to devour, to destroy.
Some of you are on the fence about this believing in Jesus thing. Guess what? Satan owns the fence of indecision. He created that to trick people into a false sense of belief.
Are you among those who have come to Christ for Salvation or are you continuing to be that person who thinks it's beneath you?
I knew a lady who's pride and vanity were far more important to her than her life.
She was diagnosed with a curable cancer but refused the full treatment because it would mean losing her hair. When we had talked about it she would cry out in exasperation "Oh GOD!". I am convinced that she looked down on Christianity. Right now she's likely in Hell crying out for God for a very different reason. She might still be alive if it wasn't for her pride and vanity. Only God knows that answer.
Look in the mirror all those of you who haven't come to Jesus. Look and be real with you. Why are you fighting it? Why are you being so stubborn about taking the free Gift of Salvation? Why do you refuse to be saved from the sin that guarantees you are going to Hell?
Those in the water after a boating accident are easily considered fools who refuse to be saved by whatever means shows up to do so. If what the method is that shows up to save you is so beneath you, and you cannot bring yourself to call out for it, wouldn't you be that fool?
Salvation is free. Without charge. It's for any and all. But you must choose it.
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