J.C. Ryle

"When a man’s heart is cold and unconcerned about religion – when his hands are never employed in doing God’s work – when his feet are not familiar with God’s ways – when his tongue is seldom or never used in prayer and praise – when his eyes are blind to the beauty of the kingdom of heaven – when his mind is full of the world, and has no room for spiritual things – when these marks are to be found in a man the word of the Bible is the right word to use about him, and that word is, ‘Dead.’”

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Sally Sunshine


Sally Sunshine had a pretty normal life. Nothing too great and nothing too bad. She was happy with how things were going. Nothing much to worry about and not many fires to put out. She figured that she had a pretty good perspective on life and what she thought the future would hold for her.

The days and weeks that went by were filled with the normal things, work, marriage and an occasional night out on the town.

And so was the life of Sally Sunshine.

On Monday she got up excited for another day at work to get things done. She put on her Jesus shirt and got ready for work. This morning she was out of milk for her coffee. Oh well, she would grab a cup of coffee from 7-11 on her way to work this morning. All in all it was a great day even though she had to work a little later than usual.

On Tuesday, she was a little tired and stole a few more minutes of sleep before she crawled out of bed. She burned her toast for breakfast and still didn’t have any milk. She had forgotten that she had a dentist appointment later this afternoon. She may have to just cancel it – too much work to do. She put on her Jesus shirt and headed to work.

Wednesday was welcomed by a loud thunderstorm and sheets of pouring rain. Great, she thought, it will take me forever to get to work today. She hurriedly put on her Jesus shirt and rushed to get in her car – only to find that she had a flat tire. Terrific, this day just couldn’t get any worse. Her husband was out-of-town again so she called a neighbor to see if she could get some help. Luckily, she was able to get the tire fixed and off to work even though she was quite late. Today, maybe it was the weather, but she felt lonely and tired. All day she just felt miserable. She couldn’t put her finger on it but something was out of place.

Thursday was a terrible day for Sally Sunshine. Nothing seemed to go right. A client called very annoyed with something that wasn’t even her fault. Her boss blamed her too and told her so. She went home exhausted. When she got home she discovered that her dog was not feeling too well. He had thrown up all over the carpet. Her husband called and said that he would be late again and not to wait up. It seemed like he was never home anymore. She wondered what was going on. She wondered what was happening to her normal, happy life.

Friday couldn’t come fast enough. She was so glad it was almost the weekend. She put on her Jesus shirt once again. When she got to work her boss met her at the door. “We need to talk.” Sally went into her office and was horrified to hear that her position with the company may be cut. There was some financial difficulty and she may only have a matter of days left. She could go ahead and take the rest of the day off. They would call her soon and let her know if she would be able to come back. Sally was upset. How could things turn out like this? Nobody cares she thought. Where was this perfect, happy and peaceful life that was promised to her? Sally was sad. Some things are going to have to change. She even thought that she might change her name.

Sally Sunshine went home. When she walked in the door she saw her dog on the floor. He was dead.

Sally slowly took off her Jesus shirt and threw it in the trash. It just wasn’t working. There was no way that he would let this stuff happen to her. She didn’t believe he loved her anymore. She was angry. It just wasn’t fair.

Poor Sally. She was not identifying with Jesus. She didn’t know that Jesus came not to give her a better life but to save her from the wrath to come. To save her from hell.

She was only putting him on hoping for a better life…when he didn’t work for her…she just threw him away.

Poor

poor

Sally.

Riches profit not in the day of wrath; but righteousness delivers from death. (Proverbs 11:4)

4 comments:

Lisa Smith said...

We are me-centered. We even come to Jesus for what he can do for "me". Jesus came to give us life, a full life for all eternity that starts now. He came to help us rise above our "horrible" circumstances and do supernatural things in our lives, like giving us peace without the financial security found in a job, joy in the midst of grievous suffering with a tiny premature baby and lots of other unexplainable miracles the greatest of which is eternal life with him in heaven instead of eternal separation from him in hell that we deserve.

I love you, Renee!

And, do you really think she's naked?!?

Renee said...

What concerns me is so many people are being taught that by coming to Jesus that their life will change and it will get better. They are not taught that TRUE Christians will be hated by the world (Matt 10:22). So many come for this reason and are so disappointed that they completely turn from God. Peace, joy and comfort are fruits produced by turning from our sin -- not what salvation brings to us.

If salvation was just to make a better life than how does someone who thinks they have a great life and are "happy" come to know God? They don't need Him. The reason they and anyone need to come is because he is going to save them from hell.

Oh, how my heart aches for the lost!

More, to come on this...hopefully...

I love you too!

Frank and Sara said...

Renee,
Great story, and it's so true, which is why we must give a clear gospel "invitation."
My name is Frank, and I've met you somewhere before. Probably A&M at the BSM or Upstream. I ran accross you at http://www.adventuresinchristianity.com/RIP
Good to see that you are serving Christ. The Lamb is worthy!

Lisa Smith said...

Renee,

You are so right. This concern you have is why it was so difficult for the rich young ruler to enter the gates of heaven.

When we think we already have it all, why would anyone want to give it all up for eternity? Why wouldn't anyone!