Congratulations, by the way, to all the PORTA High School graduates. I trust that even as you look forward to all that lies ahead, you will also look back with gratitude for those who have invested their lives in yours. Your parents and family, teachers, coaches and administrators, and many others have helped guide and shape your life. And I’m sure to see you walk across that stage will bring a wide smile to their face and fullness of a good kind of pride on the inside.
I was pleased to see quite a number of the graduates and their families attend Baccalaureate Sunday night. In addition to some excellent singing by several graduates, you heard a straight from the heart, straight from the Bible kind of message from Pastor James McMillion, and I hope you were paying attention. He spoke the truth, exposing the foolishness of living in sin and pointing the way to wisdom by living in Christ. I can only say “Amen,” and let you know that I’m praying for you to choose Jesus.
Seriously, choosing to follow the way of the Lord is a no-brainer. As the Bible says in Hebrews 2:3, “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” The answer to this rhetorical question is, “We won’t.”
Jesus has come to bring great salvation to “whosoever believeth in Him.” He lived the perfect, sinless life that neither you nor I could live. He died a sacrificial death on the cross, taking our place, bearing the righteous wrath of God for our sin and removing every trace of rebellion from our permanent record. He then defeated and defied death, flexing His muscle in victory over sin and the grave by rising on the third day and sitting even now in the seat of authority and power at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Friend, I’m telling you, greater than the might of any earthly army, greater than the accomplishments of any Billboard artist or Nobel Prize recipient, greater than a blue ribbon at any music or athletic event or any county fair, Jesus has destroyed the one who holds the power of death and has delivered us from the wages of sin that we might rise with Him to everlasting life in heaven. “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Please don’t ignore this great salvation. If Storm Team 20 Chief Meteorologist Ric Kearbey says you’re in the path of a deadly tornado and you’d better take shelter immediately, how foolish it would be to neglect the warning, grab another bag of Doritos and switch to Cartoon Network like nothing’s happening.
I’m saying look out the window and check out the size of that funnel cloud! Hear the oncoming roar and know that you need to find a way of escape! The storm of God’s judgment against those who reject His great salvation is on the way, and there is no way out if you ignore the one and only One who is mighty to save – Jesus.
Sadly, many people choose to neglect this salvation to their own peril. If you don’t think God could possibly bring such judgment, read about what happened in Noah’s generation. Look at what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. See what punishment God brought upon Israel when they refused to obey His commandments.
Friend, I’m urging you to turn to Jesus. He will rescue you out of the darkness of sin and deliver you into the kingdom of light, where life in Christ is abundant and where heaven will be eternal glory, free from tears, pain, death and mosquitoes forever.
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