You Choose the Ending
We continually make choices—what to wear, what to eat, our career, marriage partner, etc. It is the same when it comes to a relationship with God. We can choose to accept Jesus, ignore him or reject him.
Our choices are often influenced by others. But in some instances, we are given the wrong advice. On September 11, 2001, 600 innocent people put their trust in the wrong advice and innocently suffered the consequences. The true story goes like this:
One man who was on the 92nd floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center had just heard a jet crashing into the north tower. Stunned by the explosion, he called the police for instructions on what to do. “We need to know if we need to get out of here, because we know there’s an explosion,” he said urgently on the phone.
The voice on the other end advised him not to evacuate. “I would wait ’til further notice.”
“All right, he replied.” He told others around him, “Don’t evacuate.” He then hung up.
Shortly after 9:00 A.M., another jet crashed into the 80th floor of the south tower. Nearly all 600 people in the top floors of the south tower perished. The failure to evacuate the building was one of the day’s great tragedies.7
Those 600 people perished because they relied on the wrong information, even though it was given by a person who was trying to help. The tragedy would not have occurred had the 600 victims been given the right information.
Our conscious choice about Jesus is infinitely more important than the one that faced the ill-informed 9/11 victims. Eternity is at stake. We can choose one of three different responses. We can ignore Jesus. We can reject Jesus. Or we can accept Jesus’ offer of forgiveness.
The reason many people go through life ignoring God is that they are too busy pushing their own agenda. Chuck Colson was like that. At age 39, Colson occupied the office next to the president of the United States. He was the “tough guy” of the Nixon White House, called “the hatchet man,” who could make the hard decisions. Yet, the Watergate scandal ruined his reputation and his world became unglued. Later he writes:
I had been concerned with myself. I had achieved, I had succeeded, and I had given God none of the credit, never once thanking Him for any of His gifts to me. I had never thought of anything being ‘immeasurably superior’ to myself, or if I had in fleeting moments thought about the infinite power of God, I had not related Him to my life.8
Many can identify with Colson. It’s easy to get caught in the fast pace of life and have little or no time for God. Yet ignoring God’s gracious offer of forgiveness has the same dire consequences as outright rejection. Whether we ignore Jesus or outright reject him, our sin debt would remain unpaid.
Click here to read page 9 of 10 about “Is Jesus Relevant Today?”