IS LIFE WORTH THE GAMBLE?
A cemetery in Indiana has a hundred year old tombstone with the following epitaph:
Pause, stranger, when you pass me by.
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be.
So prepare for death and follow me.
Someone scratched these additional words of wisdom on the bottom of the tombstone:
To follow you I’m not content,
Until I know which way you went.
Wise counsel can sometimes even be found in a cemetery.
I have told a story that delineates the wisdom of the epitaph many times and since I never tire of hearing it, I will tell it again.
A Frenchman by the name of Blaise Pascal lived during the middle 1600’s. He was a brilliant mathematician who is credited with the invention of the mechanical calculator.
Pascal became a devout Christian in his late teen years and since he was an intellectual, his colleagues were mathematicians and scientists.
One of the discussions that that he had with an atheist friend has become a classic. The discussion goes something like this:
Pascal asked his atheist friend what he believed would happen to him upon his death. His friend responded, “I will cease to exist.” He then asked his friend, “What do you happen will happen to me upon my death?” The atheist responded, “You too will cease to exist.”
The atheist friend asked Pascal what he believed would happen to him upon his death, and Pascal responded, “Since I am a Christian, I will spend eternity with Jesus and the other believers in what we call Heaven on the New Earth.”
The atheist then asked Pascal the final question, “What do you believe will happen to me upon my death? “Since you are not a Christian and your life shows no evidence in that regard, you will spend eternity suffering in Hell with all of the other non-believers.”
Then Mr. Pascal summarizes with this very wise statement. “If you are right in your beliefs, upon our deaths, you and I will both cease to exist, but, if I am right then you will spend eternity suffering in Hell, and I will spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus. As I see it, you my friend, you cannot win and I cannot loose.”
As I have traveled across this planet I have noticed that most people live their lives gambling that the Bible is not true and since they do not believe it, they feel no compunction to honor its dictates. As a matter of fact, opinion polls show us that most of what we call “church people” do not believe that the Bible should be taken literally and their lives demonstrate their belief.
I believe that Mr. Pascal would say to these people, “You cannot win.”
SIN has such a strong allurement that most people are willing to gamble their eternal destinies in hopes that the Bible is NOT true or relevant.
I have asked myself this question many times, “How long has it been since I have heard a warning of the consequences of remaining in my sinful lifestyle?” I am sorry to say, “Much too long.”
The fruit on the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden was beautiful and looked deliciously tempting, but that is not the reason she took the bite. She ate of the apple because it was forbidden. The fruit on that tree probably were not any more beautiful or tastier than any of the others but she knew that it was wrong and she was not going to be told not to taste it. But look what one bite of it did for it”s tasters. It got them evicted from Paradise and ultimately it destroyed them.
God’s ways and His laws are very relevant for us today and the consequences for not believing them and following them are just as deadly as they were for Mr. Pascal’s friend.
While we yet live, there is hope for our eternal destinies, and that hope is found in none other than our creator, and His name is Jesus.
The word repent means to turn around and go the opposite way, but it means more than just turning our lives around, it demands changing loyalties.
Whereas before we lived only for ourselves and for the moment, after repenting, we put Jesus in the forefront of our lives and follow Him and His direction which can only be found in the Bible.
Pause, stranger, when you pass me by.
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be.
So prepare for death and follow me.
Someone scratched these additional words of wisdom on the bottom of the tombstone:
To follow you I’m not content,
Until I know which way you went.
Wise counsel can sometimes even be found in a cemetery.
I have told a story that delineates the wisdom of the epitaph many times and since I never tire of hearing it, I will tell it again.
A Frenchman by the name of Blaise Pascal lived during the middle 1600’s. He was a brilliant mathematician who is credited with the invention of the mechanical calculator.
Pascal became a devout Christian in his late teen years and since he was an intellectual, his colleagues were mathematicians and scientists.
One of the discussions that that he had with an atheist friend has become a classic. The discussion goes something like this:
Pascal asked his atheist friend what he believed would happen to him upon his death. His friend responded, “I will cease to exist.” He then asked his friend, “What do you happen will happen to me upon my death?” The atheist responded, “You too will cease to exist.”
The atheist friend asked Pascal what he believed would happen to him upon his death, and Pascal responded, “Since I am a Christian, I will spend eternity with Jesus and the other believers in what we call Heaven on the New Earth.”
The atheist then asked Pascal the final question, “What do you believe will happen to me upon my death? “Since you are not a Christian and your life shows no evidence in that regard, you will spend eternity suffering in Hell with all of the other non-believers.”
Then Mr. Pascal summarizes with this very wise statement. “If you are right in your beliefs, upon our deaths, you and I will both cease to exist, but, if I am right then you will spend eternity suffering in Hell, and I will spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus. As I see it, you my friend, you cannot win and I cannot loose.”
As I have traveled across this planet I have noticed that most people live their lives gambling that the Bible is not true and since they do not believe it, they feel no compunction to honor its dictates. As a matter of fact, opinion polls show us that most of what we call “church people” do not believe that the Bible should be taken literally and their lives demonstrate their belief.
I believe that Mr. Pascal would say to these people, “You cannot win.”
SIN has such a strong allurement that most people are willing to gamble their eternal destinies in hopes that the Bible is NOT true or relevant.
I have asked myself this question many times, “How long has it been since I have heard a warning of the consequences of remaining in my sinful lifestyle?” I am sorry to say, “Much too long.”
The fruit on the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden was beautiful and looked deliciously tempting, but that is not the reason she took the bite. She ate of the apple because it was forbidden. The fruit on that tree probably were not any more beautiful or tastier than any of the others but she knew that it was wrong and she was not going to be told not to taste it. But look what one bite of it did for it”s tasters. It got them evicted from Paradise and ultimately it destroyed them.
God’s ways and His laws are very relevant for us today and the consequences for not believing them and following them are just as deadly as they were for Mr. Pascal’s friend.
While we yet live, there is hope for our eternal destinies, and that hope is found in none other than our creator, and His name is Jesus.
The word repent means to turn around and go the opposite way, but it means more than just turning our lives around, it demands changing loyalties.
Whereas before we lived only for ourselves and for the moment, after repenting, we put Jesus in the forefront of our lives and follow Him and His direction which can only be found in the Bible.
posted by Jim Burton at 1:18 PM
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