Sermon Central
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This Passage From The Bible Says That If A Person ...
Contributed by Brian La Croix on Aug 3, 2008 (message contributor)
This passage from the Bible says that if a person “has” Jesus in his or her life, then they have “eternal life.”
What’s eternal life? The bottom line is that it means Heaven. Forever.
And how do we get that eternal life? By having Jesus in your life. This says that if we have Jesus, we have eternal life.
So what does it mean to “have Jesus?”
You have Jesus when you believe with your life and not just with your head. (Note: don’t know where I heard/read that, but I borrowed it - wish I had thought of it!)
What do I mean by that?
Let me start by stating that I am deathly afraid of heights. Just hang on, and you’ll get why I’m saying that, okay?
Have any of you been to the Royal Gorge in Colorado?
It’s the home of the world’s highest suspension bridge - 1053 ft. above the Arkansas River.
My wife and I went there about 20 years ago with some friends when we were working in Colorado.
The bridge itself only a quarter of a mile long, but because it’s a suspension bridge, there’s a lot of movement due to the winds.
One of the attractions there is their Arial Tram, which is a cable car that goes across the canyon. The Arial Tram is another 125 feet above the canyon floor.
My wife, bless her heart, decides she wants to go across on the Tram.
Have I mentioned that I’m afraid of heights?
But, being the manly guy that I am, I said, “Sure, honey!”
I looked at the sign on the side of the engine room or whatever it’s called, and it says, “So many passengers carried without an accident.”
And I’m thinking, “Then it’s about time for one, don’t you think?”
Anyway, we get on the tram, and it starts off fine, then it dips down as it leaves the building. I’m ready to throw up, and we’re just getting started.
Then, my lovely bride, bless her heart, decides to take some pictures. Of the canyon floor.
This means that she is leaning out of the tram window, causing the tram to sway even more than it already was.
I’ve said that I’m scared of heights, right?
Now let me tell you, we’d only been married about a year or so, but I was about ready consider a divorce right then.
Needless to say, we made it across safely. I decided that I would walk across the bridge instead of going on the tram. But even that was treacherous for me, because people were driving across it.
Now, what’s this got to do with having Jesus in your life? Let me explain:
I could have talked to the tram-driver guy and believed it would make it safely across.
I could have read all the technical info and believed the tram would make it safely across.
But it wasn’t until I actually put my life on the line and got on the tram that my belief was shown to be real.
I had to believe with my life and not just my head if I wanted to make it across on the tram.
It’s the same thing with Jesus and getting to heaven.
I could believe Jesus with my head, like I did growing up.
I could talk to the pastor or the priest and believe that Jesus would get me to heaven.
I could read my Bible and believe that Jesus would get me to heaven.
But it’s not until I believe with my life - putting all of my hope and faith into Jesus and what He did for me on the cross that I will really have heaven.
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