333 Words
333 WORDS….
Imagine… you have been working in your field, say, 15 hours. Like non-stop. Behold the dozen bushels of harvest that sweat and more sweat have earned you. The guy’s meager 5 bushels in the adjacent field makes you feel, well, somewhat superior. That is until….
Until you gander at the other neighbor. 25 bushels! How could that be?! Rattled, you walk through other fields. One dude has 3 bushels, another 17, another 31. And one guy has 150!! You heard me, 150!!
Now imagine…. you have been a christian, say, 15 years. You have flocked with the flock, faithfully surrendered your tenth, volunteered for this and that, a regular team player. You’re in heaven now, and the Lord Jesus shows you the fruit of your life. There before you are 12 bushels of “treasures in heaven”, the fruit of 15 years of christianity. “Not bad,” thou thinkest. That is until….
Until you see the “treasures” of some others. One dude has 17 bushels, another 31. And one guy has 150!! You heard me, 150!!
Question: How does a guy grow from a 12-bushels dude to a 150??? Wrong answer: Go to church more often, try real hard to change, more volunteer work, give more money. Correct answer: Repent, return, gaze.
Repent of idols (that which has captured your time and attention). Return to your First Love. (Put Him first.) Gaze steadily and determinedly upon Lord Jesus. (‘Behold and become.’) The very Son of God invites you into an ever-deeper, ever-finer relationship with Himself. You know He hates lukewarm. Lord Jesus is passionate about you, and would like an enthusiastic response to His Great Invitation. ("Yes, Lord Jesus, I fully accept!!")
The Great Invitation (“Abide in Me, and I in you.”) really is a wondrous and holy thing. Ignoring it is almost as dumb as that relative who continally resists Christ’s salvation. Your eternal reward will be relative to the quality of relationship with the Lord. (“He who abides in Me bears much fruit.”)