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To
Die For
During
the
Vietnam
conflict, a young graduate of
West Point
Academy
was sent to
Vietnam
to lead a group of new recruits into battle. He did
his job well, trying his best to keep his men from
ambush and death. However, one night he and his men
were overtaken by a battalion of the Viet Cong. He was
able to get all but one of his men to safety. The one
soldier who had been left behind had been severely
wounded, and from their trenches, the young lieutenant
and his men could hear their wounded comrade moaning
and crying for help. They all knew that venturing out
into the vicious crossfire of the enemy would mean
almost certain death. But the groanings of the wounded
soldier continued on through the night.
Eventually,
the endurance of the young lieutenant came to an end,
and he crawled out of this place of safety toward the
cries of the dying man. He got to him safely and was
able to drag him back. But just as he pushed the
wounded man into the safety of the trench, he himself
caught a bullet in the back and was killed instantly.
Several
months later, the rescued man returned to the
United States
, and when the parents of the dead hero heard that he
was in their vicinity, they planned to have him come
to dinner. They wanted to know this young man whose
life was spared at such a great cost to them. On the
night of the dinner party, their guest arrived drunk.
He was loud and boisterous. He told off-color jokes
and showed no concern for his suffering hosts. The
parents of the dead hero did the best they could to
make it a worthwhile evening, but their efforts went
unrewarded. At the end of that torturous visit, the
obscene guest left. As her husband closed the door,
the mother collapsed in tears and cried,
"To
think that our precious son had to die for somebody
like that." *
Yet,
Jesus died for “somebody just like that.”
He died for YOU and for me.
“For when WE were still without strength,
in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a
good man someone would even dare to die. But God
demonstrates His own love toward US, in that while we
were still SINNERS, Christ died for us” (Romans
5:6-8). He
died for us so that we might be reconciled to God and
live with Him eternally (Romans 5:9-10).
We
are reconciled to God through Jesus... when by faith
(Acts 16:30-31) we
turn from our sins in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confess
Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized
(immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of our sins
(Acts 2:38). Then,
as long as we continue to “walk in the light as He
is in the light,” then the blood of Jesus Christ
continues His Son continues to cleanse us from all
sin
(1 John 1:7).
The
cross of Christ is proof positive that God loves YOU
enough “to DIE for.”
Will
you LIVE for Him?
David
A. Sargent,
Minister
Church
of Christ at Creekwood
1901
Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
* Tony Campolo, Who
Switched The Price Tags?
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