HOT DOG

We need to be saved.

I don't believe we often think of ourselves in that context.  We're going home to some pretty nice homes - we're stepping into some pretty nice cars - we're opening fridges that are pretty well stocked - we have some extra cash in the bank -- we feel pretty secure.

But imagine you are out on a boat in the middle of the sea when a storm hits.  The waves are slamming against the boat.  Eventually they overwhelm the boat and you go flying into the water.  But you have your cellphone and by some miracle you bring it up out of the water and it's working.  Your signal is weak - you're treading water - but you have enough juice for probably one call.

So - 'Who you gonna call?'  (Don't say 'Ghostbusters.')

Are you going to call your local pizza joint and order a meat lovers - because you're treading water and you're likely to get hungry?

Are you going to call that special someone and finally pop the question?

Are you going to call your boss and ask for that raise you both know is overdue?

Of course not.  The most important question you could ask at that moment is:  'Who can save me?'

Sometimes we want to focus on our stuff - our relationships - our vocation - our personal success - our leisure.  I mean, those things are fine to talk about, unless you're drowning.  The truth is - we need to be saved.

The Bible says all of us have sinned.  It's about the only thing we all have in common, because there are really only two kinds of people:  Sinners and Jesus.

The New Testament book of Romans tells us:  'All have sinned and fallen short ... '

It also says:  'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life thru Jesus our Lord.'

That death doesn't just mean earthly death; because everybody dies.  The death Romans speaks of is eternal separation from God, which is a nicer way of saying 'hell' -- that all of us have sinned and what we all deserve for our sins is hell.

The Bible says hell is a horrible place of darkness and incredible loneliness and pain - and unless we're saved from our sins, hell will be a reality.  I know a lot of people don't believe that and a lot more people just don't want think about it.  But the hardest truth for us to believe is the truth we don't like.

I have for many years been a big fan of the hot dog - not those weenie, pathetic kind - the jumbo, quarter-pound, 100% beef version.  I mean, I LOVVVVE them.

And over the years I've heard it dozens of times:  'PK, don't you know what's in those?'

And I always respond the same way: 'No, I don't know what's in them, and I don't know want to know what's in them.  Don't you dare tell me what's in them.  As far as I'm concerned, this hotdog is full of vitamins and nutritional goodness.  That's what I believe about this hot dog.  So don't ruin this hot dog for me.  I don't want any new information about this hot dog, thank you very much.'

That's how we can be about truth we don't like.

So some would say, "I believe in God, but I don't believe in a God who allows people to end up in hell.'

I understand.  But the One true God has spoken clearly and said all of us have sinned and what we all deserve for our sins is hell.

But then we read the book of Psalms:  'God does not deal with us according to our sins ... for as far as
the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.'  (Psalm 103:10, 11)

If you began traveling east from here and headed to New York, then on across the Atlantic to Europe, how long would you have to travel before you met West?
Of if you went west and got to San Francisco and then across to China, how long before you met East?

In both cases, you would never meet East or West.  That's how far God, by His grace, removes our sin when we put our trust in Him.

We can make the choice to give our lives to Christ and escape eternal separation from God.

But we need to be saved.

And blessed.