The Clenched Fist

I was listening to a podcast by Adrian Rogers today.  He is a pastor who has gone on to be with the Lord. His sermons are still broadcast in a program called Love Worth Finding.  He told a story in today's sermon about a little girl long ago putting her hand in a very, very expensive vase.  Very quickly, she discovered that her hand was stuck!  Her parents tried to get her hand out.  They used oil in hopes of coaxing her hand out, they pulled, and tried all kind of things to get the girl's hand out of the vase.  But alas, her hand was truly stuck. In the end, her parents had to break the precious vase to get their daughter's hand out of the vase.  When they did, they discovered that their daughter's hand was in a tight fist.  They asked her why on earth she didn't just open her fist, for surely her hand would have slipped right out of the vase with her hand open!  The girl replied that she had been holding onto a penny and didn't want to lose it.

This is such a marvelous picture of the mindset of man.  First, for the unbeliever--they hold onto what they see as valuable and miss the wonderful treasure that is the kingdom of God.  Nothing on this earth compares to the riches that God gives to his children.  The unsaved person says, "I like my life just the way it is.  I have great things--a family, a house a decent job and I am generally a happy person."  when they don't realize they could have so much more!

Faith in Jesus guarantees that we will spend eternity with Him.  In a sinless, perfect world.  That is a beautiful thought considering the ugliness of the world we live in. You have to be seriously checked out to have not noticed the state the world is in right now.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 says, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power."

Really look at that list.  Doesn't it resemble the people in our world today?  We are living in end times.  Believe it.  I could give you twenty reasons why this is true.  But that list is very clear.  Don't give up eternity for the penny you have clenched in your hand.  Open your hand and grab hold of the Creator of the universe who died so you may have life!

Part 2, The Clenched Fist of the Christian coming up.