Does anyone else reading this feel that the veil between heaven and earth is getting awfully thin? The chorus of “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” is a constant ear-worm these days. To refresh your memory, the refrain goes:
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”
Yeah, like that – the things of earth are becoming less and less weighty, somehow. A “for instance”: This writer has always been a news hound. Couldn’t wait to get to the computer in the morning to see if anything earth-shattering had happened overnight, and my news feeds were many and from many lands. Not now. You see, with all the prophecy being fulfilled, currently, we already know what is going to happen today, tomorrow, and in the short-term future. And the major news outlets of the world are not connecting the same dots that we Christ-followers are connecting. They do not see the pictures that are oh so clear to us who read God’s Word daily. Plus, we can no longer trust that the “arbiters of news” are even telling us the truth.
Jesus’ Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 gives so much comfort when we hear of wholesale deceit being visited on us by politicians, the medical community, and even by certain church leaders. When we hear of a new rumour of war or another major earthquake, we take comfort in the fact that all these things are supposed to be happening. Jesus told us not to be afraid. He’s got our back, and His Father is still in control of it all.
It is interesting that the non-believers I know are in one of two camps:
1.) The Terrified. Some are living in a constant state of horror, excited by YouTube stories of alien spaceships, city-eating sinkholes, and the return to our part of the world of pestilences such as tuberculosis and even the plague.
2.) The Blind. So many are just completely unaware of anything momentous taking place on planet Earth at this time. Trying to talk about the plight of Israel, for example, with some non-believing friends is a lesson in futility. They have either made up their minds that Israel is evil, or they shrug and ask what the Mid-East has to do with life in Canada. Jesus was so right when he warned that the end times to come would be as in the days of Noah. He said, in those days, everyone was just carrying on with life as though nothing was happening, right up until the LORD closed the door of the ark and the waters came and took the whole lot of them away.
Jesus cites particularly “people eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” It was like the old adage of hedonistic abandonment, “Eat, drink, and be merry” without the “for tomorrow we die” admonition. That pretty much describes today’s lifestyle for many, many people.
Saints, don’t you sometimes wonder why you were so blessed to be able to see salvation in Christ’s blood sacrifice on the cross? Why am I blessed to read God’s Word and see the wonders that He has for His creation in the future, and, more, to KNOW, at the deepest level of knowing, that it is coming soon? That alone is worth an eternity of worship, thanksgiving, and praise to the One Who loves us beyond anything we can imagine.
If I was going to offer any kind of advice to you, dear reader, it would be this: get right with God. Come close to Him and He will make all your paths straight. He will help you in times of trouble. He will be your Guide, your Shield, your Refuge, your Strength, and your Rock to cling to when all around you appears to be falling apart.
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”
Now, here’s how to get right with God, and it’s as easy as ABC.
A: Acknowledge that you are a sinner, ask God for forgiveness, and repent or turn away from that sin. As Apostle Paul wrote in the Book of Romans, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The only person who walked on this earth Who never sinned was the God-Man Jesus Christ. Jesus came to earth in a human body to shed His blood for the forgiveness of all sin, for all time. How this is so can be found, yep, you guessed it, in the Book we call the Bible. So, the next step toward salvation is,
B: Believe that Jesus Christ died on a Roman cross, shedding His Divine blood as a propitiation for all sin, for all time. Believe that He died on that cross, was buried, and on the third day rose up from the grave in an immortal body. He ascended into heaven and is waiting for the Father’s Word to come back and gather all those who believe in Him. And the last step is a double one …
C: Commit and Confess – Commit your life to the One Who loves you more than you can possibly know or imagine and Who has paid the whole debt of your sin. “For the wages of sin is death, but the Gift of God Is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD.” And then confess with your mouth that Jesus is LORD of your life, telling anyone who will listen what real life is all about – real, eternal life, lived in full forgiveness.
These are the initial steps of salvation. After this, you will want to find a Bible-believing congregation to worship with and with whom to learn more about discipleship in the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Jesus Christ. Committed Christians keep growing in faith, in character, and in their walk with the LORD.
Take the plunge today, friend. You have nothing to lose, but have eternity to gain.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).