Want to know God?

Want to know God?

First Baptist Church, Weaver

Several years ago on the first Sunday at my new church, a young boy asked his grandparents where the “real” preacher was. They tried to explain that I was the new preacher, and indeed I would be the real preacher. Children seem to have an observation that we as adults are prone to overlook.
Often we look past the real truth and the real reason we worship. Let’s keep it real.

Our lives must be built on the truth. Our stability in an unstable world is Jesus Christ. As confessing Christians, we must be reflectors of the real Christ. People are watching and looking for the truth.

Many years ago, I was camp pastor for a youth retreat. The excitement was in the air as I was giving my best sermon on the Great Flood. But during the message, a little boy kept raising his hand to the point I stopped and asked, “What is it, Ted?” He responded, “Preacher, it’s not Moses and the ark; its Noah and the ark.” I stood corrected. He knew the truth. I had misspoken.

The truth is recognizable. Every one of us must admit he is a sinner and believe on Jesus, the Son of God, to forgive his sin. We do this by confessing Jesus as our Lord and Savior. That is the truth that sets us free to be real Christians.

You and I do not decide what truth is. But we must decide to believe the truth or believe a lie. Just as the little boy knows when the real preacher is gone, we can know the truth and rejoice in the presence of Jesus.

A missionary to Brazil once told me he had been given the opportunity to observe the diamond mines and the process in which the diamonds are harvested. In his description of a moving belt of glistening stones, every rock looked like a diamond until the real thing came along. Then nothing else looked liked the real gem but the diamond. 

In our world of religious rhetoric, we see, hear and feel emotional bits and pieces that appear to be the truth. But when the real truth comes along, we will recognize Jesus as the way, the truth and the life. Celebrate this truth by living for Jesus. There can only be a real preacher or a real Christian when we know the real Christ.