Marked For Death

I knew a Veterinarian who was called out late one night to examine a sick horse. Upon completion of the exam the Vet told the owner that he would not be able to save the horse and recommended euthanasia. The old man accepted the diagnosis but wasn't quite ready to put the horse "down" yet ha wanted to spend some time with the old horse. He told the Vet he could euthanize the horse himself but did not know where to put the bullet. The Vet obliged by taking a grease pencil and marking an "X" right between the horses eyes. There's a horse that had a sentence of death placed upon him and had the mark on his head to prove it. We all carry or have carried the mark of death on our heads as well. The scriptures tell us that whenever we break God's Law he marks us for a death that will be carried out on the Judgment Day. There is only one way to have that mark removed and that is by substituting someone else in place of ourselves. Fortunately God has provided a substitute for us and we can be spared that sentence of eternal death. However, the gift is a conditional gift, it requires us to quit breaking God's Laws and live lives that mimic Jesus' life on earth. The first consequence of sin is that we die and are punished eternally. Sin does something else to us. Sin steals meaningful lives from us here on earth. Sin shapes into something ugly...righteousness shapes us into something beautiful. When we lie...we become liars and that takes away our trustworthiness. When we have sex outside the marriage relationship it ruins the beauty and trust of a committed relationship. When our priorities are wealth and pleasure our lives have no depth to them...we are behaving selfishly. Even if we live basically good lives here on earth, if we don't assemble with other Christians we are neglecting our responsibilities to them and to God. God's Word does not teach solitary Christianity. The second consequence of sin is it ruins our lives on earth. Don't allow yourselves to be shaped by sin and miss out on what this life has to offer and what God offers us in eternity.