[CS-FSLUG] "The Difference is Inches"

[Fred A. Miller]

A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#4745 - "The Difference is Inches"
Mark 12:28 

Listen to the audio broadcast!
http://www.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/ramhurl?p=pnm&f=/rhm/sounds/awwy/awwy4745.rm

        They call them the chain gang. They wear stripes, but they're not 
prison inmates. They're football officials, and they carry this chain that 
measures whether or not a team has made a first down. Now not everyone is a 
football fan, so let me explain this. A team has four tries to move the ball 
ten yards. If they succeed, they get a "first down" and they get four more 
plays. If they fail, they have to turn the ball over to the other team at 
that point on the field. Many times it's impossible to tell with the naked 
eye if the ball has made it those ten yards, because it's very close. So they 
call out the chain gang. They come trotting out, they extend that chain its 
full length, and then they set it down. If it extends beyond the ball, the 
team falls short. If it falls short, the team has succeeded. And as many who 
have played or watched football know, winning or losing a game can, in 
moments like those, literally be a matter of inches no matter how far you've 
brought the ball.

        I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 
Difference is Inches." 

        Some of us were talking recently about a friend of ours who died 
suddenly and how what seemed to be a passive faith in Christ had become a 
very active faith in Christ in his last months. I said, "Maybe he discovered 
the '18-inch' difference." As you might expect, I got some quizzical 
expressions. I said, "Eighteen inches - that's how far it is from your head 
to your heart." Those inches can be the difference between winning 
spiritually or losing it all. Between knowing all about Jesus and really 
knowing Jesus! 

        In Mark 12, beginning with verse 28, Jesus has a conversation that may 
help you see exactly where you stand in relation to Him. It's our word for 
today from the Word of God. An honest seeker asks Jesus, "Of all the 
commandments, which is the most important?" Jesus responds by saying that 
loving God with everything you've got is the first commandment and loving 
your neighbor as yourself is the second commandment. 

        This man totally agrees with Jesus like so many church folks do today. 
The man said, "You are right in saying God is one and there is no other but 
Him. To love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with 
all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important 
than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." This man had so much right. He 
agreed with Jesus' teachings. Maybe you do, too. He understood that the issue 
wasn't religion or rituals but your personal relationship with God. 
Hopefully, you understand that, too. 

        But then comes the startling bottom line: "When Jesus saw that he had 
answered wisely, he said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.'" 
He's not far, but he's not in. Maybe that's you, too. You've got Jesus in 
your head, but somehow you've missed having Him in your heart. And as Romans 
10:10 says, "It is with your heart that you believe and are justified." 
Eighteen inches - that could be, for you, the difference between going to 
heaven and going to hell. 

        You know Jesus died to pay for your sins, that He rose from the dead, 
that a person needs to turn from their sin and put all their trust in Jesus 
to be spiritually rescued. You know it, but maybe you've never done it. Every 
day you wait, your heart gets a little harder and your last day on earth gets 
a little closer. Please, if you don't know you've consciously given yourself 
to Jesus, do that today while the Holy Spirit of God is drawing you to do it. 
Open your heart and tell Him, "Jesus, I don't want to just know about You. I 
want to know You. Take me, I'm Yours." If you'd like to read this little 
booklet, Yours For Life, that I wrote about beginning your relationship with 
Christ, then I want to send it to you. Just let me know you want it. God 
seems to have used it to help many others be sure that they really do belong 
to Jesus Christ. 

        It could be that Jesus is saying to you right now, "You're not far, 
but you're not in." You can change that right here and right now. Jesus in 
your head won't get you where you want to go. Jesus in your heart will get 
you to heaven. 

If you're not sure you belong to Jesus, and you would like to make sure today, 
Ron would like to send to you a free copy of the booklet, "Yours for Life: 
How to Have Life's Most Important Relationship."  To read it online, click 
here:
http://www.yoursforlife.net/

OR, to request your free copy of "Yours for Life," click here:
http://www.gospelcom.net/rhm/yours/yflorder.html

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"A Word With You" by Ron Hutchcraft is a daily radio challenge, with 
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Copyright (c) 2005, Ron Hutchcraft. Permission to distribute this material via 
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Copyright (c) 2005, Ron Hutchcraft. Reprinted with permission. "A Word With 
You" is a radio outreach of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.

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