Friday, 6/7/19 – Tough Question

Answers to nearly two million questions!

1. Eat less, exercise more.
2. 8.
3. The 2nd Sunday in May.
4. 16.

There! That should satisfy upwards of nearly two million questioners for a full year!

You see, according to Google the top four general questions asked in 2018 were

7. How to lose weight? – 550,000
8. How many ounces in a cup? – 450,000
9. When is Mothers Day? – 450,000
10. How many ounces in a pound? – 450,000

The first six questions were questions specific to the one asking. Among them were questions like, “What is my ip?” (3,350,000), “What time is it?” (1,830,000), and “What song is this?” (550,000). Answers to these questions were obviously different in each case.

But none of the top four general questions are essential questions. None would be an individual’s dying plea. Can you imagine that? A soul lay suffering, struggling for just one breath more. He motions you to bend low to hear what his whisper begs as he faces eternity. You tilt your head positioning ear to mouth and he gasps, “How many ounces in a cup?”

No, I don’t think so. Ultimately, for each of us, the ultimate question has not changed…

Some 2,000 years ago the Holy Spirit fell. He sent out emboldened men to shout the gospel, and conviction made once blind souls desperate. As scripture records, “…they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).

A few years later an earthquake shook a Philippian dungeon and a once brazen guard shuddered at imminent death, if not by debris then by decree; he thought to slay himself but heard a voice shout “Don’t…!” Urgently, he “called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?‘” (Acts 16:29).

This is the essential question! This is the urgent one when it is only you – and Almighty, Just and Holy God! What will you grasp at then? Some tuft of grass here, a reed there as you plummet over that precipice?

The best prayer is that made long ago by Peter; “Lord, save me!” he shouted as he sank into stormy sea (Matt. 14:30). Yes, this same Peter turned fiery preacher above, for all must come to Christ the one same way.

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” answered Peter. (Acts 2:38). “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,” replied Paul and Silas (Acts 16:31).

“The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Peter announced (Acts 2:39)… “—you and your household,” echoed the two (Acts 16:31).

This is the essential question. The answer is freely available to all. It is childlike in simplicity, overflowing with Christ’s Love. You need only be humble enough to ask it, willing enough to surrender, remorseful enough to repent.

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.” (Romans 10: 9).

Press on…

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