Spiritual Readiness
Thank You For Your Excellent Service!
By Dr. John Wagner
After eating a meal in a good restaurant, and where I get great service, I usually leave a good tip. Hopefully, the waitress would accept it as a reflection of our appreciation. But, we wouldn't be expressing our true appreciation if we didn't share something with her far more important than money could buy. Most waitors and waitresses undrstand the meaning of good service. But sometimes, even when people get good service they don't always show their appreciation. There was someone who served us really well - Jesus Christ - and all too often we don't even acknowledge His service.
In Matthew 20:28 the Bible says:
"...the Son of Man [Jesus] did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's expectations; and the consequences of our sin is death, eternal separation from God, in hell. But God loved us so much that He wasn't willing for any of us to experience that suffering. So Jesus Christ came to earth as a human being to show us God's love and to take our punishment for us.
In Philippians 2:5-11 the Bible says:
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humble himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
The greatest gift God offers us is eternal life. But there is only one way we can receive it.
1 John 5:11-12 tells us:
"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."
Eternal life can't be obtained through any religion, denomination, or human being. It can only be obtained through faith in JESUS CHRIST, God's Son. Too often we ignore Him and then wonder why life hurts so bad. The truth of the matter is, life will never be what we long for without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We were created to have a loving relationship with Him.
In John 12:26 Jesus said:
"Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."
Jesus also promised to return to this earth one day. No one knows when that will be. But we can be certain from the many signs that are coming to pass that it won't be much longer.
Will you be ready when He comes back?
Jesus said in Matthew 24:45-51
"`Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expecthim. "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
I urge you to receive Jesus as your Savior, and serve Him as well as you can. Your eternal destiny depends on it! Jesus is ready to forgive anything you've ever done. He wants to make you CLEAN and give you real, lasting, JOY!
Isaiah 1:18 says
"`Come now, let us reason together,' says the Lord. `Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'"
Let me share a story with you:
On one of our trips through Oklahoma we gave a waitress a tract similar to this one. She took it politely and said "Oh, I get lots of these! And I keep them all in a shoe box at home."
My heart sank. Because on the judgment day she'll stand before God, and if she's never accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior, she'll spend eternity in hell separated from Him, even with a shoebox full of Gospel tracts at home. You see, just putting the tracts in a shoe box won't do a thing for her. She has to receive the Jesus, that the tract talks about, into her heart.
PLEASE don't put Jesus in a shoe box, let Him into your heart! It's simple. Just talk to God like you would talk to any customer who comes into your restaurant or store and say something like this (The attitude of your heart is more important than the exact words):
"Jesus, I believe in you. I believe you served me by giving your life for me. I bow my knees before you. I'm sorry for the sinful things I've done. Please forgive me and come into my life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be and help me serve YOU for the rest of my life. Thank you."
If you prayed this prayer sincerely, then God has forgiven all of your past sins!
1 John 1:8-10 says
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."
If you prayed this prayr sincerely Jesus Christ has come into your heart because He promised in Revelation 3:20 to do just that if we asked Him to come in.
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him [her], and he [she] with me."