Wednesday, October 22, 2014
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I've stood at many a wedding altar as the minister. But this one was different. The beautiful bride, glowing in her elegant white dress, was our only daughter. What a thrill to perform her wedding and watch her commit herself unconditionally to a wonderful young man. She was a great son picker. And I watched him commit himself to her.
I've had the privilege of watching that relationship grow over the years, from her first discovery of him on a missions trip, to falling deeply in love with him, and then all the experiences they had together building trust, and the joy of their engagement, and finally, the months of preparation for the wedding day. There were a lot of important stages that led up to that glorious moment. But there's no question, something decisive happened that day at the altar. Everything else was important, but it was all preparation. It actually all came down to a magic moment on a life-changing day for my daughter. Maybe there's one like that for you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "That Life-Changing Moment."
Our word for today from the Word of God is in Matthew 13:37-41. It's not talking about a relationship that is confirmed and begun at a wedding. No, this is life's most important relationship. This is a disturbing parable, actually, that Jesus told, but it's got life-saving truth in it. He told about a man with a wheat field, and his competitor came in and sowed weeds in the middle of the wheat so you couldn't tell them apart. It messed up trying to figure out what was what, and the servants wanted to go out and try to pull up the weeds. And the master said, "You won't be able to tell the difference, guys."
A little later, he began to explain to the disciples what this all meant. Jesus said, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world. The good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom (that's the people who belong to Him). The weeds are the sons of the evil one (that's the ones who don't belong to Jesus). And the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up at the harvest and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, they will weed out His kingdom and the cause of sin and all who do evil."
In other words, all of us who are un-forgiven, well we're the ones who do not belong to Jesus Christ because we've never been to Him to have our sins forgiven. And notice this, you can't tell the difference between the wheat (the real followers of Christ) and the weeds (the ones who just look like it). That's still true today. I mean, according to what Jesus is saying here, you can have sitting in church next to each other, one person who knows Christ and is going to heaven, and another who doesn't know Him and is headed for a Christ-less eternity. They sing the same songs, they know all the same words, and they do all the same things. The difference is that life-changing moment.
Jesus describes it over in John 5:24. He said, "Whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed over from death to life." See, there's a moment when you consciously choose Jesus Christ as your Savior. You pin all your hopes on Him to give you a relationship with God.
Lots of church people have discovered Jesus as my daughter discovered her future husband. They've increasingly grown to appreciate Jesus, love Jesus. They've learned about Him. They've done things for Him, and they think that based on all that they must have a saving relationship with Christ. But there's never been that moment when they have taken Jesus' hand and said, "From today on, Lord, I'm yours. I am forsaking all others. You are number one in my life. I'm yours totally, Jesus. I know you loved me enough to die for me. You have won my heart, and I'm giving myself to you today." That's when you cross over from death to life. There's a moment that happens.
Do you know that you've done that? If you don't, there probably hasn't been a time. You say, "I'm not sure." Well, why don't you make sure; your eternity depends on it. You might look like a follower of Christ, act like it, talk like one, but there's never been a time you gave you to Jesus. Let this be your day.
If you go to our website ANewStory.com I can in just a matter of moments, I think, help you know for sure you belong to Jesus. If you want that, go to ANewStory.com. As surely as my daughter will always know the day she became her husband's, you can always know when you became one who belongs to Jesus Christ. Today, this can be your life-changing moment.