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Pastor Beal

ARE YOU A TEN?

"...I have surely seen the affliction
...and have heard their cry..." Ex. 3:7

I want to ask you, on a scale of 1 to 10, "How serious are you in going to heaven?" Or if you are saved, "How serious are you in sharing your faith?" I ask you this because I know of a company that has helped many people with weight loss, and they ask people, "How serious are you in losing weight?" If they say, for instance an 8, they give them their card and tell them to call them when they're a 10! Can you imagine the success ratio of working with 10's? But let's stop and think for a moment about an 8. At first it doesn't sound too bad, until you look and see that 20 percent of you is working against the 80 percent. A fifth of you isn't interested in losing weight. I can tell you from experience that the 20 percent will be taking the other 80 percent to the refrigerator. The Bible tells us that a little leaven (yeast), which represents sin, leaveneth the whole loaf. In other words, the rotten apple spoils the whole bushel. The above verse speaks of the cry of the Israelites after 400 years of afflictions and burdens set over them by a wicked taskmaster. Had they cried out to God before? Of course! Then why didn't the Lord respond to their earlier calls? Could it be that they were not sincere in their cries? Half-hearted attempts and feeble efforts are little reason to come running. The Word of God assures us that God's effort to seek and save us is a 10! The Lord has offered His help to "whosoever" will come. Sincere faith is something that we all can, and must, bring to God. 10's make for a great reflection upon parents, coaches, teachers, and pastors. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"

Thanks! Pastor Earl Beal