May 23, 2017

1 John 5:11 (NLT) — 11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

There are a lot of things that we take for granted everyday. I flip the light switch and on come the lights. I set my thermostat for a certain temperature and the heater or the air conditioning keeps the house at that temperature. I go to the grocery store and find food on the shelves. I turn the key in my van and it starts. I turn the handle and water comes out of the faucet. I go to sleep at night and wake up not having worried about bullets flying in my neighborhood. Now we are in spring time but soon there will be summer, then fall, and then winter. I type in and my computer takes me to our website so I can post this blog.

We also can take for granted that there is eternal life in God’s son. We take it for granted because we have heard this most of our lives and we have read it in our bibles. But there are some people that can’t take this for granted because they have never heard this verse. I have been reading The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken. Nik Ripken worked in Somaliland for many years bringing aid to the starving Somalis in a country very hostile to Christians. While he was there he made friends with Omar Aziz a muslin who was not a Christian.

Nik’s son Timothy, who was eighteen years old, died of a severe asthma attack. At the time Nik’s family was living in Kenya while he worked in Somaliland. Timothy was buried in Kenya and Nik’s friend Omar also came to the funeral. When Omar returned home after the funeral he talked to he Somali friends about the funeral. This is what he had to say. “There is one thing that I don’t understand about that funeral. Nik and Ruth buried Timothy, a son they loved with all their hearts. During the service many people were talking about Tim. People were singing. People were crying. But everyone there seemed to know that Tim was in paradise.  Why can’t we Muslims know that our love ones are in paradise when they die? Why is it that only these followers of Jesus know exactly where they are going after death? We bury our people. We weep. We walk away. And we don not know where our loved ones are. Why? Why have Jesus’ followers kept these things from us?

Nik speaking, “His words were a powerful, though perhaps unintended, witness to his own people. but his words were a severe challenge to me. Why, indeed, had Jesus’ followers kept such things from Somalis for over two thousand years. Everyone in that room shifted their attention to me, as if waiting for me to answer the question that now hung in the air. Why had Christians ignored Somaliland for centuries and kept Jesus to themselves? They expected an answer and I didn’t have one.

We take for granted what some people can’t because they haven’t heard about Jesus. Let’s not take it for granted that everyone here has heard about Jesus. Let’s make sure that we are not keeping Jesus to ourselves. Everyone’s eternal destination rests on knowing Jesus. Everyone’s.

Be Inspired Hilltop!



  1. Mary Anne Frank says

    Reading Romans and just read these verses yesterday. Romans 10:13-15 ” For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'(Joel 2:32). But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the scriptures say ‘how beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news ‘! (Isaiah 52:7)