Message by Larry Thacker Jr from May 19, “The Free Gift that Costs You Everything”
Does it seem to you like the world is falling apart around us? Throughout history, Christians have thought that they must surely be living in the end times. We have always lived in a fallen world, and it will be that way until Jesus comes back to reclaim it. We hardly have anything to complain about here in the U.S., though there is much cause for concern. Around the world, Christians are suffering and dying for the cause of Christ.
I have often contemplated how I might do in such circumstances. I don’t know anyone who truly believes who thinks they would fold under pressure, but does one ever really know until it happens? I find comfort in the knowledge that I belong to Him, and He would never leave me without hope. My hope is not in my own strength, but in His. I pray that we will never have to find out, but we may.
Consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:24-27. If we are to be His disciples, we must take up the cross. We have reduced the cross to a pretty symbol, but to His hearers, the imagery would have been vivid and bloody. They saw crucifixions regularly and knew what He was saying. When he said “follow me,” He invited them, and us, to die. For many who heard Him that day, it would be literal. All but one of his closest followers was martyred. But we are all called to die to ourselves, to our flesh, to our sinful desires, to anything that draws us away from following Him.
Salvation is a free gift (Eph 2:8-10.) The thief on the cross who believed at the last moment is hanging out in Heaven with the likes of the apostle Paul. None of us can earn it. None of us deserve it. Yet when we accept it, we are making a choice that changes our lives. Jesus has called us all to a life of sacrifice. We don’t live for ourselves anymore. We live for Him. We die to ourselves that we might have life eternally. This is what it means to follow Him.
