BY JACK WARD
Wayne Cordeiro, a preacher in Honolulu, Hawaii, writes:
Some time ago some wonderful people in our church gave Anna, my wife, and me a dinner certificate to a nice restaurant for $100. We thought, Wow, a hundred bucks. Let’s go for it.
We found a free evening. We dressed up. I took a bath, used deodorant and cologne — the whole thing. I even washed and waxed my car, because we wanted to take it through the valet, and I didn’t want my Ford Pinto to look bad.
The night came, and we were excited. We went to this ritzy restaurant and walked in. They gave us a nice, candlelit table overlooking a lagoon adjacent to a moonlit bay there in Hawaii. Oh, it was nice. And we thought, for a hundred bucks for just the two of us, we could eat high on the hog. So we ordered the most expensive thing there. It was wonderful.
When the bill came, I said, “Honey, why don’t you give me the certificate?”
She said, “I don’t have the certificate. I thought you brought it.”
I said, “You have to have it. You’re supposed to have it. You’re the wife!”
She said, “I don’t have it.” And I thought, We are in deep yogurt. Here we are. We look rich, we act rich, we even smell rich. But if we don’t have that certificate, it invalidates everything.”
Cordeiro adds: “There are times in our lives when we can look holy, we can act holy, we can smell holy. But without Christ, we’ve forgotten something. It is Christ that validates everything else. Christ is what counts with God.”
Jesus said in John 15:5: “Without me ye can do nothing.” Without Christ we are nothing, can be nothing and will come to nothing. All of our toils and work on earth amount to nothing. All of our joys and pleasures in this world will be all we have in the next world. Without Christ we are lost to God. We will stand before Him one day and give an account for our lives. What will it be for you? Do you believe in Jesus Christ? That’s good but the devil does also. The better question is “Do you follow Christ?”
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.” Are you a follower of Jesus or do you tip your hat to Jesus?
At the end of World War II during a parade many people tipped their hats and waved to General George Patton for the great job he had done, but only his soldiers knew him and followed him. Are you tipping your hat and waving at Jesus or do you know Him and follow Him? Christ is what counts with God.
Listen to Pastor Jack’s sermons every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. on 98.9 WSIP FM. Check out the Tomahawk Missionary Baptist Church Facebook page and our website at tomahawkmbc.com.