Read It; Believe It

 

An inexperienced preacher was to hold a graveside burial service at a pauper’s cemetery for an indigent man with no family or friends. Not knowing where the cemetery was, he made several wrong turns and got lost. When he eventually arrived an hour late, the hearse was nowhere in sight, the backhoe was next to the gaping hole, and the workers were sitting under a tree eating lunch. The diligent young pastor went to the open grave and found the vault lid already in place. Feeling guilty because of his tardiness, he preached an impassioned and lengthy service, sending the deceased to the great beyond in style. As he returned to his car, he overheard one of the workers say to the other, “I’ve been putting in septic tanks for twenty years and I ain’t never had one blessed before.”

In 1957, Lieutenant David Steeves walked out of the California Sierra Mountains 54 days after his Air Force trainer jet had disappeared. He related an unbelievable take of survival after parachuting from his disabled plane. For almost three months he said he had eaten berries and dug snow tunnels to sleep in, had seen no one during the entire time and finally walked out on his own. By the time he showed up alive, he had already been declared officially dead. His story was viewed with much skepticism because during that same time frame his assigned unit had been sent to the Korean War. When further search failed to turn up any wreckage, a hoax was suspected, and Steeves was forced to resign under a cloud of doubt. He lived for two decades branded as a deserter and possible spy. One story had him selling the plane to the Russians; another shipping it piecemeal to Mexico. Steeves died in 1965.

In 1977 a troop of Boy Scouts hiking through Kings Canyon National Park discovered the wreckage of Steeve’s plane and his story was confirmed. His family was issued an apology from the military and was told that Lt. David Steeves’ name was reinstated with honor. One of Steeves’ friends, Eugene Juneet, after the ceremony told the Associated Press, “This was nice,” but then he added, “I just wish someone would have believed Dave back then…”

[Mark 16:9-14] “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.”

It is sad that so many value their own thoughts and beliefs more than they do God’s Word. Yet, Jesus said we would all be judged by the Words which He spoke, which came from God (John 12:47-50). He also said that not all who claim to call on His name would be saved, but only those who do God’s will (Matthew 7:21-23).

Doesn’t this sound a little scary about plowing ahead with life without really digging into Bible study? It should! We can’t rely on what someone tells us about salvation. It is our responsibility to know and do what God has said! The road to eternal life is found in the pages of the Holy Bible. Let’s read it, study it, and then do what God has commanded. “These (things) are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31). Read it; Believe it!