One of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis is: "One thing Christianity cannot be is mildly important." I believe that Clive nailed it with this statement because when a person intelligently evaluates God's story throughout the history of the world, he or she cannot help but seriously consider becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ.
Jesus Christ is, without a doubt, among the most influential people in the entire world. In fact, most would agree that He was the MOST influential. It is interesting because Jesus not only claimed to be God but he also allowed people to worship Him as God. There are many others throughout history who have claimed to be God. None of the people who claimed to be Deity were among the most influential, except one...Jesus.
When you really think about it, no other human being has impacted the course of history and shaped moral values as much as Jesus has. This reality reveals that He was more than just human. When you honestly evaluate His influence, all thinking people have to confront these claims that Jesus made and try to understand what it means to them personally. Despite the fact that Jesus lived a relatively obscure life, never wrote a book, and only taught His disciples for three years, He altered mankind's perspective forever. It is upon this real historical figure, not some mythical legend, that we as Ambassadors build our faith in God. In addition, because of this reality, following Jesus is not mildly important to us. Listening to and obeying the Spirit of God in our lives is of utmost importance and sharing His message of salvation to the world is the first priority in everything we do. This is the reason we are focused on training our athletes how to speak up about Jesus.
For those of you who have received the journal, "A Life Worth Following", you know that every book comes with a bracelet that is made to look like the seam of a baseball. This bracelet is so much more than a novelty item to be included with the book; it has become a tool the Lord is using to help us share the message of Christ to others. For example, this past summer, every time we played a baseball game, we met our opponents on the field and gave them the bracelet as a gift. As we handed it to them, we asked if we could share the story of this bracelet. We then proceeded to share the story of Justin's life, and the story of his tragic car accident the day after being named Baseball Player of the Year for the State of Oklahoma.
You may not know but shortly after Justin's death, his grandfather, Benny Bechtol, gathered up all of Justin's practice baseballs, cut the seam out and wove together a bracelet for family and close friends. This was one way Benny dealt with the grief in the loss of his grandson. After he finished the bracelets, he gave them to many of Justin's family and friends. This was a precious gift and many of us still wear that bracelet on a daily basis. In the process of planning and writing the book, I knew that we needed to incorporate this meaningful bracelet with our journal. That is how the bracelets came to be.
On the baseball field, after we shared about Justin's life and death, we always made the following statement: "this very moment we are confident Justin is in heaven, but it is important to realize that he is not in heaven because he was a good kid. He did not make it to heaven because he was a great athlete. He is not in heaven because he was obedient to his parents. He is not in heaven because he went to church, read his Bible or was a leader in his youth group. He is in heaven because there was a day when Jesus came into his life. Several years before Justin died, he discovered that he was a sinner. He discovered that he could never be good enough to get to heaven on his own. He realized that Jesus' death on the cross provided a substitute for him. Justin realized that his debt of sin was one he could not pay. On the cross, Jesus paid the debt for him. After Jesus' death, He rose from the dead conquering death itself and paving the way for mankind to have a personal relationship with God. Because this relationship with God was a reality for Justin, the very moment his life on earth ended, God's eternal promise of salvation was realized.
The truth is for everyone reading this blog today, we will all walk through the door of death just like Justin. It will likely come in different ways and at different times but one of the greatest realities of life, is death. In no way am I trying to scare you or depress you today but it is important that this message be very clear. In His word, God has given us some very clear promises in life and in death. He offers to mankind the gift of salvation and this gift is real and it is very important for every human being in the world. It is a gift that you should not think is mildly important but one that is of utmost importance in your life.
If I may, I would like to pose a few very important questions to you: If you were required to walk through that door of death today, would you be ready to meet God face to face? Have you begun a relationship with God that is real and personal? Are you trying to get to heaven on your own or have you received this gift of God like the Ephesians 2:8-9 describes?
Regardless of where you are with the Lord, today, I have some good news for you. The Lord is confronting you with this gift of salvation for a very specific reason. If you have already received this gift, I pray your faith in Christ is not mildly important to you. I pray that your faith in Christ is of most importance in your life. If you are a person who has not yet begun that journey with the Lord, I hope you take the time to talk to someone in your life who has an authentic relationship with God. They can help you personally connect with God. If you do not have someone in your life who walks with Jesus, we would love for you to shoot us an email at: info@alifeworthfollowing.org. We will be glad to help you in your journey with God.
I pray the Lord blesses you today.
Posted on
Fri, February 20, 2009
by Chris Wall