I found this newspaper clipping in an old Bible my father had beqeathed to me. Interestingly it was written some 55 years ago by someone who lives not far from me. The Bible however was purchased somewhere in Southern New England, not far from where my father lived. Its truths are timeless.
We’ve changed immensely as a society from the time back in 1971 when this quote was written. Sadly, not for the better. Yet to read this message takes me back to a time when America was a different place, families were different, divorce was rare, mother’s still stayed home and took care of their children and fathers went to work and supported the family. People attended church, some did, many likely did. We did not see the anarchy, violence and corruption we see today in every facet of society. It was a different America, and a different world. Phones didn’t exist in your hand, capable of taking your mind anywhere in the world. There were boundaries then, there were limitations, there were morals.
Yet the wisdom and advice of the author were still needed then and even more desperately today. We are living in perilous times, the very last of the last days. Who and what do we worship? Who do we look to for hope? The answer then is the same as today. The Lord Jesus Christ.
We as a society, as families, as individuals need the Lord. We need his forgiveness and his love. We need the blessed hope of eternal life He alone can give us, by believing the gospel which is written in 1 Corinthians 15: 1-5. ” Moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I have preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. : The gospel is simply this. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and you shall be saved. But something else will also happen as a result of belief. You will experience His presence in your life, you will have hope you never had before. You will receive His love, pardon, and fatherly adoption into his family. You will be sealed by the power of God, and you will NEVER perish.
We aren’t saved by our works or becoming good people. We are saved by grace, love and mercy and these things are real. They will never fade and they have the power and ability alone to covert the soul.
Anyone can simply believe and that is all that is required to be saved.
Sarah Hopkins Art 