All the right levers and knobs

I needed to empty my pool and had two options availabe to me; I could scoop it out with a 10 litre bucket or hire a submersible pump. Although the 4000 scoops with the bucket would have done much for my physice, I decided on the submersible pump. So I went to the local plant hire business and hired one. They pulled the rip-cord and it roared to life.

I loaded it into the car, headed back home, got it all set up, and pulled the rip-cord. Nothing happened. So I pulled again. Still nothing happened. I thought that I just wasn’t strong enough or didn’t have the right technique, so I pulled again and again and again. Nothing!!! As I composed myself from the rising agitation, I noticed that there was this red switch on the other side that said “On” and “Off”. I turned it to the “On” position, pulled the rip-cord and it roared to life. Oh, how happy I was.

The euphoria lasted a whole ten seconds. 

 

The machine switched off again. So I bent over and pulled the rip-cord this way and that way and slow and then fast, all to no avail. After two blisters and ten minutes of zero success, I decided to call the plant hire business and ask them if there was some or other special way to get the machine to start. To my embarrassed relief, there was. The lady told me about the red knob, but then also said that there were two levers that needed to be pushed this way and then that way once it was running. I got off the phone and did as she said and lo-and-behold, the machine kicked into life. I was ecstatic.

At that point I was so grateful for how truly simple the Christian faith really is. Some people would have you believe that in order to attain and maintain your salvation, one needed to jump through various hoops or perform certain things (rituals). But Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:3 that he feared that his readers (and us) would be “… corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ”.

You see, there are no special rites or practices required to be a Christian. There is no combination of levers and knobs required. All you need to do is believe in Jesus; believe that He died for your sins and that by accepting God’s free gift of forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus, you are forgiven and hence forth have eternal life. It really is that simple.

Can you accept that it is really that simple to be forgiven? What is stopping (blocking) you from believing? You can leave a response by clicking here.

my name is darryl
and this is what i have to say

PS:
It must be noted that Paul is not saying that there is not a righteousness to be maintained, as the ‘evidence’ of a converted life is one that seeks to satisfy the righteousness of God. He writes in Philippians 1:10 that we are to “… discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ”. When one truly loves God, then adhering to His standards does not become a drain, but rather an eagerness to attain. Yes, we will stumble. And because we do John writes: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1).