Responses II

Matt.12:^11-12 “Jesus said, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a PIT on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!” (NIV, emphasis added).

How do the five major world views [religions] respond if one falls into a dip pit? Yesterday, we looked at three responses. Buddha says, it is your karma. Mohammed says, you violated the law of Allah. Hindus say, the pit does not exist, it is an illusion, it is in your mind. Next is the new age people, they are usually life coaches. A lot of motivational speakers are new age people. They take a lot of things from scriptures, but for them, it is not about Christ. It is self at the centre. The new age people say, motivate yourself – jump out of the pit. But you and I know that there are some pits that you cannot get yourself out of. This was not satisfactory and did not answer my question. Next, I looked up how Jesus would respond if someone falls into a dip pit. Jesus says, I will come, and rescue you out of the pit. Who will you follow? Only Jesus!

Just take a few minutes to worship Jesus and strengthen your heart in worship.

Song: He will come and save you. He will come and save you

Say to the weary one, your God will surely come. He will come and save you.

He will come and save you. He will come and save you

Lift up your eyes to Him, you will arise again. He will come and save you.

In my struggle, I saw that Jesus is the only one that will come and rescue me out of my pit. Only Jesus can save. Hallelujah! I do not know what you are going through. But if you will come to Christ, you will be coming to the end of that problem. Jesus will save and deliver you; He will come and rescue you because you are of more value than a sheep. Ps. 71:²⁰ “You made me suffer a lot, but you will bring me back from this deep pit and give me new life.” (CEV, emphasis added). In other words, even when you are in a deep ditch, Jesus will bring you back. Are in you in a deep ditch today? Only Jesus can save. Do you need new life today? Only Jesus can deliver on that.

If I am hurt, Jesus shows me compassion. If I am confused, Jesus gives me direction. If I stray [or get lost, or wander off], Jesus finds me. If I fail [or fall], Jesus rescues me. The beauty of it all is, If I Trust Him, Jesus Keeps Me Saved. Jesus keeps me saved. This is a big deal! Before I gave my life to Christ, what was being preached was, if you do good you will be accepted. I was not crazy; I knew that nobody could do it. So, it kept me from accepting Jesus. But I discovered that the gospel is not, if you do good you will be accepted. The gospel is, you are accepted and because you are accepted, you do good.

Prayer [hymn]: Through many dangers, toils and snares we have already come. T’was grace that brought us safe thus far and grace will lead us home. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound… Amen!