Hanging by a Thread
Suppose you need to cross a hundred feet away from one cliff to another. You get dizzy just by looking at rocks 1,000 feet below. But you really have to cross. Your very life depends on you getting on the other side.
You have a half-inch-thick steel cable. The tensile strength of the cable can carry up to several tons without snapping. But you discover that you only have 99 feet and 11 inches of cable. You are short of one inch. Then you hear me say, “I’ll take care of that. I have a nylon thread here. I will tie the thread to end of the cable. Don’t worry about that inch of thread. You’ve got almost 99 feet of cable anyway. Now, you can cross!” Would you?[1]
Almost is never enough. It’s the same with getting into heaven: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, NIV). No matter how good we are, even if we are almost there, still we fall short. If you want to get into heaven on your own merit, you have to be 100% good, not 99.9%. As in you will not commit even a single mistake. In short, you have to be perfect.
The problem is we are not the cable. God’s grace is. We are the thread. We are the weakest link. Instead of adding anything to the strength of the cable, we actually weaken it. When it comes to salvation, it’s all God’s or nothing at all. That’s the deal. “Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish!” (Ephesians 2:8, The Message) So, instead of pretending to be perfect (which we are not) or trying to be perfect (which we cannot), admit your failure before God. Then, accept the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross. He alone can save us.
All of us need to hear this message. So this coming December, My Hope Philippines will air a three-part evangelistic program over major TV networks. The goal is to reach over 3 million Filipinos with the good news of salvation. We encourage you to open your homes and invite your friend and relatives to watch the program with you.
Brethren, don’t let your life or your loved one’s lives hang on a thread.
[1]Adapted from D. James Kennedy, Evangelism Explosion, 3rd ed. (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale, 1983), 101.
You have a half-inch-thick steel cable. The tensile strength of the cable can carry up to several tons without snapping. But you discover that you only have 99 feet and 11 inches of cable. You are short of one inch. Then you hear me say, “I’ll take care of that. I have a nylon thread here. I will tie the thread to end of the cable. Don’t worry about that inch of thread. You’ve got almost 99 feet of cable anyway. Now, you can cross!” Would you?[1]
Almost is never enough. It’s the same with getting into heaven: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, NIV). No matter how good we are, even if we are almost there, still we fall short. If you want to get into heaven on your own merit, you have to be 100% good, not 99.9%. As in you will not commit even a single mistake. In short, you have to be perfect.
The problem is we are not the cable. God’s grace is. We are the thread. We are the weakest link. Instead of adding anything to the strength of the cable, we actually weaken it. When it comes to salvation, it’s all God’s or nothing at all. That’s the deal. “Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish!” (Ephesians 2:8, The Message) So, instead of pretending to be perfect (which we are not) or trying to be perfect (which we cannot), admit your failure before God. Then, accept the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross. He alone can save us.
All of us need to hear this message. So this coming December, My Hope Philippines will air a three-part evangelistic program over major TV networks. The goal is to reach over 3 million Filipinos with the good news of salvation. We encourage you to open your homes and invite your friend and relatives to watch the program with you.
Brethren, don’t let your life or your loved one’s lives hang on a thread.
[1]Adapted from D. James Kennedy, Evangelism Explosion, 3rd ed. (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale, 1983), 101.
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