I have been a Christian now for over 40 years.  I have no regrets from my decision to receive and follow Christ as my own personal Saviour.  It has been a journey like no other.  Many in this time of Covid mandates and confusion wonder where we all are going to end up.  During a visit with someone recently, I was told about a young person who expressed they are very scared of death.  I can honestly tell you that there was a time in my life where I was afraid of death and of the uncertainty about what comes after death but that now is totally gone.  I do not like the idea of death but I am not one little bit afraid of death itself.  Once a person is a true born again Christian, fear of death disappears and a new love takes its place. 2 Timothy 1:7: For God hath given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 

I have really wanted to share an article that expresses some hope and help in all of our Covid confusion.  First, I want to say that the God who made the world has everything in total control. The events around the world are all aligning themselves to fulfill the final and great judgment that is predicted to come upon the world. This judgment is described in many places in scripture, in particular in the book of Revelation.  I would not recommend anyone reading the book of Revelation if they are a new Bible reader.  It is a difficult book to grasp and it is written for believers, but it will be of special importance during the seven-year tribulation time.   Thousands of people throughout the world will believe on Jesus Christ during that time. God will give people one final chance to believe on Christ for salvation.  

At this present time there is one simple but very powerful truth, and it is to believe.  This truth is central to Christianity and has been taught and preached by Christian teachers and preachers for the last two millenniums. This truth has changed the lives for the good of millions of people –including mine.  

First, we must learn what it means to believe.  It is so simple but so hard for our stubborn human nature to believe on something other than ourselves and what we have been brainwashed with in our schools or religious background.  There is one word that keeps jumping out of the New Testament books and it is: believe and believe correctly is of eternal importance.  I was challenged as a young man of 21, when reading the scriptures for the first time, to read through the gospel of John and underline the word believe every time I saw it.  I did that and was amazed how many times that word showed up.  I then struggled with the meaning of the word “believe” when I read verses like:

Mark 1:5 [Jesus was] saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent you and believe the gospel.”

Mark 5:36: As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he said unto the ruler of the synagogue, “Be not afraid, only believe.”

John 3:15: That whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

John 4:48: Then said Jesus unto him, “Except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

John 8:24:[Jesus said] “I said therefore unto you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.” 

John 14:1 [Jesus said] Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me.

John 20:31: But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through his name.

To believe is to know something is true enough to trust in it.  The Bible is full of promises and instruction on how to believe; those who do believe find eternal life which is an amazing new life while here on earth.   I would like to illustrate believe with something that happened recently.  I had a big piece of construction equipment that had a leak in a hydraulic cylinder.  I was thinking about how to repair the cylinder. Every option I considered was going to cost hundreds of dollars.  A contractor in the city told me he had a similar problem with his equipment and  he sourced some sealer oil treatment from a distributor in Lloydminster and added this to his hydraulic oil it fixed the leaks on his equipment.  I went to the local hydraulic experts in the city and again asked them about bringing the cylinders in for repairs. I told him I was considering using the hydraulic sealer additive to do the repair.  He told me it would never work; he did not believe in additives.  It would be like: “I don’t believe in religions.”  However, if you get the right religion, then it will make a difference.  You see, the man who used his construction equipment everyday proved that the hydraulic sealer worked by using it for over a year. His hydraulic cylinders never leaked again.  He proved it with evidence and the evidence is adequate for me to use it for my leaky cylinder.  I listened to the guy who believed and proved it and not to the guy who did not believe.  I wanted something proven or the evidence.   The person who had been trained to think a certain way did not believe in it and will not believe it until, put into a situation where there is no other option than to try it, then he too would become a believer.

The Bible was written to give us instruction on what it means to believe. Additionally, there is a multitude of evidence from the past two thousand years through thousands of people to prove that if you believe in Jesus Christ, you will have eternal life.  Jesus Christ is a tried, proven, tested Saviour with evidence to convince anyone who will seek for him.      He has proven to thousands of people who have tried and trusted him as their Saviour  that He will do exactly what he promised to do – give eternal life.  You can discover this too by believing in him.   

Hebrews 11:6: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that deligently seek him.

Please note that when one believes by faith, that person discovers some amazing rewards.  There are rewards in this life and rewards in the eternal future only if you believe. 

If you would like to get your own Bible or if you would like to join one of our weekly classes, please go to our web site www.pabaptist.ca 

The content of this article is solely the personal opinions of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Prince Albert Shopper.