Is Jesus Succeeding in you?

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”  Mt 18:3

Has the life and ministry of Jesus Christ impacted the life you live?  Have you “changed” in your manner of living, thinking, believing because of Him? He came to this earth to have an impact on you and I.  Jesus said “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”. John the Baptist presented the need for change by advocating “repentance”. Paul described this as being “transformed”, and also as a “new creation”.  Regardless of the wording or verbiage we use, it is without question that Jesus came to “change” the status quo of your and my lives.

Understanding the imperativeness of Jesus’ mission is the first step in allowing Him to make that change in you.  Jesus said He came so that we “would not perish, but have eternal life”. Do you hear the “would not perish” part? He also said He came to “seek and save the lost”. These are a few of the multitude of verses that proclaim Jesus came to deliver us from the jaws of death. His mission was not to convert you or I to a religious perspective or a moral lifestyle, it was to save us from the eternal death that sin has caused. 

Has Jesus’ mission truly grabbed your attention?  Have you allowed it to arrest your serious consideration?  His mission was not a trivial one. He said that He came “so that you might have LIFE”, and the magnitude of that profession is only multiplied when you recognize that the only other option is the rigors of Hell. JESUS described Hell as “a place where the fire is never quenched and the worm never dies” and where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”. He did this so that we might grasp the desperation of our situation.

Can the importance of His mission in any way be overstated or over dramatized? He is talking about your and my actual existence throughout eternity. No wonder many preachers and teachers get dramatic in their presentations of the Gospel message.  This is serious business!  Your and my souls are “being weighed in the balance”. This is not a question of being religious or not, it is a question of eternal life or eternal death.                                       How have you responded to Jesus’ warnings of the eternal consequences of His words? Have you given His ministry the attention and consideration it is due? Have you made an intelligent, informed, honest, and thoughtful response to His call to change your life? Have you allowed His Word and His Spirit to make that change for you?                     I will close this message of urgency with words that although written over 3500 years ago, they are even more worthy of our sincere attention today.

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life”  Deut. 30:19