I was saved years ago… born-again… gave my life to Jesus… confirmed… whatever your church background called it. Basically they told me that Jesus had forgiven me of my sins up to that point. Because I was human, I was still going to sin sometimes. Whenever I sinned, I needed to confess it to God and ask Him to forgive me for that sin. In the meantime, I was supposed to do what Jesus would do. Do it perfectly was the goal, but if I could not, then God would give me a little grace and help me through.
If you have listened to anything I have told you about eternal life being a Person, not a prize to attain, then you know the first paragraph is a lie. Jesus forgave ALL our sins… past, present, future… when we accepted His life as ours, we became ONE with Him. We have eternal life NOW, because Jesus IS eternal life. If He is going to live forever, then so am I because I live in Him and He lives in me. For all who know Him as Lord, heaven is NOW, because heaven for me is where Jesus will be. We don’t have to wait to go to a heaven when we die. We are there right now and can experience His life, joy, peace, love…. right this minute. He did everything FOR us. There is nothing we need to do to earn it.
I heard a story years ago that illustrates my point. I searched diligently for it and then I opened an old book the other day and there it was. The Lord found it for me. So I’m going to share it with you.
And American businessman was on the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when he spied a small boat with just one fishermen in it. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complemented the Mexican on the quality of the fish and asked how long it took him to catch them. The Mexican replied, “It took only a little while.”
The American then I asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish. The Mexican replied that he had enough to eat to meet his family’s needs. The American then I asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your day?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip some wine and play guitar with my amigos— so I have a full busy life, Senor.”
The American laughed and scoffed at him. He said, “You know, I have an MBA from Stanford. I can help you. You should spend more time fishing, and with the proceeds you could build a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, and eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats, and then instead of selling your catch to that middleman over there, you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You could control the product; you could control the market. You could control all the processing and distribution. And then, of course, you would need to leave this little fishing village and move to Mexico City. Then you would move to Los Angeles and eventually New York City, where you would run an expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman said, “But, Senor, how long will this take?”
The American replied, “Maybe 15 to 20 years.”
“But then what, Senor? What after 15 to 20 years?”
The American laughed and said, “That is the best part because after that, when the time is right, you could sell your company stock to the public, you would become filthy rich, and you would make millions.”
“Millions, Senor? Then what would I do then?
“Then you could retire and move to a small coastal fishing village where you could just sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll into the village in the evening where you could sip wine and play guitar with your amigos.”
Carpe diem. Live in the moment. Heaven is now. Skip the Middleman.
Blessings,
Kenny
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