Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Stubborness Can Be Deadly



"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32)

Hey Gang:  Have you run into people you can identify with just one word?  Archie Mc Tavish was such a man - now there are people who are stubborn and then there was Archie McTavish.   He was a true blue Scotchman who let everyone in ear shot know it.   I don't know if Scotsman tend to be a wee bit on the stubborn side, but Arch was stubborn enough for to make one believe that way.

It is said that Arch had gained such a reputation for his stubbornness that folks just tended to give him space and remarked "Oh, that’s the way he is”. They tended to give way to him, rather than do battle over things that were just not worth the pain and agony that it would take try and convince Arch that he might be wrong.

And then one day, Archie's stubbornness cost him his life!  It seems during a rain storm he noticed a leak in his roof.  His house was of the three story variety and thirty feet up.  Now his bride of more than forty years tried to convince Arch that this was not the time to try and repair the roof, but, as you might guess,  Arch would have no part of that so he got out his repair kit, put up the ladder and began to climb.

 All went well until Arch stepped on a spot that was slippery. He came off the roof like a speeding bullet, did a half gainer and made a sudden stop at the bottom.  Arch should have listened to Amy, his bride, but his stubbornness won out and it cost him his life.

This is not the end of the story. Arch had been a rather rough individual who had no time for religion, although he had been baptized into the Catholic faith.  Since he had lived a rather rough life, the church determined he would have to be prayed out of purgatory and Amy was expected to foot the bill for the services of the church.  It is rumored that after several year of praying for Arch's soul, Amy went to check to see how much longer it would take.  The priest suggested all was out by a foot -to which she remarked that Arch was stubborn enough to get his own foot out.

Archie was stubborn and we can say it led to his demise, but spiritual stubbornness is far more lethal than refusing to listen as to whether you would fix the roof on a rainy day.  It is absolutely amazing to me that so-called intelligent people do not have a deep compulsion to seek the truth, pertaining to eternal life and where one would choose to spend it.

In Revelation 3:20, Jesus makes this promise to each and every person  that He breathed life into, "Behold, I stand at the door at the door and knock"  Now notice the next word, "if" , “if you open the door I will come into you?"  In John 3:16, God puts legs on that promise: "I loved you so much I gave my only Son that you might be freed from the bondage of sin".  In other words, I have sent Yeshua, MY Son to carry your sin burden to the cross.

Now think about that for a moment...If you choose to do the Isaiah 53:6 road and choose "to go our own way", on that day when you stand before God to give an account of every word and action of your life, all of the grubby things done in this life will be revealed.  Again, I ask, why would anyone want to not accept Jesus’ promise to wash us totally clean of all those grubby transgressions and we can stand before our Lord "clean and pure"?

So, my friends and neighbors,   I know that most, if not all, of those who read the Gramps Morning Thoughts are believers and safely tucked away in the Savior's hands… but it does not hurt to do a review once in a while, if, for no other reason than to thank your heavenly Daddy that He prepared a way for you to dump the errors of your ways and be washed clean with the blood of the cross.  Keep in mind, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one come to the Father except through Me". (John 14:6)  

Blessings,

Gramps

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