For some reason, I was thinking about “Christians” in the entertainment industry. I use quotation marks, because there are times when people who proclaim Jesus look no different than their secular counterparts. They take roles of a crude or profane nature, act in sexual manners, and participate in things that are raunchy. I’m not saying this to put anyone down, but Jesus said that we’d know a tree by its fruit, and if the fruit of the one who claims to know Christ looks just like the one who mocks Him, I wonder.
I have to say that this isn’t just true of those who are in the entertainment industry, but of people who say they believe in general. We follow Teachers who preach popular messages and conveniently leave out the difficult stuff, when they are not attempting to change the meaning of Scripture altogether. We want Jesus, but only so far as we don’t have to give much up. We want what the rest of the world has! Yet, if I understand Jesus correctly, the road to destruction is wide, and the gate to salvation is narrow, and few find it. There is a path put before us all: the narrow road, which has a difficult way, or the wide and easy path. One is “this road is difficult, and impossible without Christ,” whereas the other is “enjoy it while you can, and never mind the sudden cliff at the end.” To quote Led Zepplin’s Stairway to Heaven, “Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on.” Don’t wonder, choose wisely.
Matthew 7:13-27
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
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