What if Jesus had never been born?

"NO! Not the buttons! Not my gumdrop buttons!
Alright then! Who's hiding them?
Ok. I'll tell you. Do you know... the muffin man?
The muffin man?
The muffin man. Yes, I know the muffin man. W-who lives on Drewery Lane?
Well, she's married to the muffin man.
The muffin man?
THE MUFFIN MAN! She's married to the muffin man..."

I'm pretty sure if you saw the first Shrek movie, you'll remember this classic reference. That's because the first Shrek movie is a classic - as in something that seems to just get better with time.

I don't know if you are a fan, but by all appearances this is the last installment of adventures in Far Far Away...so good, bad, or ugly, I'll probably watch it.

Shrek Forever After borrows heavily from another classic movie often seen at Christmas called It's a Wonderful Life. In that film, the main character is given the gift of seeing how life would have turned out if he had he never been born, it was pretty much a mess. In Shrek's case, the world is also pretty much a mess. Puss-n-Boots is fat and lazy, Fiona is kind of a gang member, and a creepy little dude named Rumpelstiltskin is on the throne instead of Sir Justin Timberlake with his strawberry lip gloss. (haha)

Well maybe that Rumpelstiltskin vs. Justin Timberlake part is sort of in sync, but overall the Shrek parallel world is a darker and crueler place to be, because Shrek is trying to be a hero on many levels. It's up to him to save his friends, restore his world and reclaim his one True Love.

This alternate reality stuff can really mess with your mind, but have you ever considered what the world would be like if Jesus had never been born? At first glance, you might shrug and think about a couple implications like the need for a different way to measure time and not having to go to church, but I would like to paint a deeper picture that should fill you with appreciation for the immeasurable gift given to us on that first Christmas.

If Jesus had never been born, the world would be a much more primitive place where women are slaves of free men, children are sacrificed to idols, and the concepts of charity and love are all but missing from society.

If Jesus had never been born, education and science would look very different and much more primitive,* and most likely the United States of America and Canada would have just been an unrealized historical dream.

But worst of all, if Jesus had never been born, there would exist only one spiritual destination for our eternal souls; a dark and tormenting place where we would be eternally separated from God. Jesus Christ came to earth as a man to live a perfect life, die a horrible death, and rise from the grave so that the penalty for the world's sins would be paid in full...and eternal life made available to anyone who puts their faith in Him for salvation.

Here's the way the Apostle Paul describes it:

If corpses can't be raised, then Christ wasn't, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It's even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they're already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries (1 Corinthians 15:16-20).

In other words, a world without the birth, life, death, and resurrection from the dead is a world that is "always winter...never Christmas."**

But we can happily wake up from that nightmare, because 2000 years ago in a dark and dirty cave near Bethlehem, the cry of a baby started a shockwave of change that is felt just as strongly today as ever. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, and God with us.

So the question I have for you is...

Has Jesus Christ entered into your world? If not, I can tell you that the darkness will remain and your destiny is not a pleasant picture by any stretch of the imagination.

If He has, then how much have you let Him change your world? He is the single most influential figure in all of history, but is He the centerpiece of your soul?

Let Jesus Christ set off a chain reaction of change in your life. Let that chain reaction include living out THE Cause of Christ – making disciples who make disciples. Start by telling your friends the Good News about Jesus' free gift of salvation to those who trust in Him. I promise you'll have an amazing forever after!

*http://suzyred.com/jesus.html
** C.S. Lewis: Chronicles of Narnia

(resources from Dare2Share & Soulfuel)

Live like they're dying

Did you hear the one about the three buddies who were talking about death and dying? One asked, "When you're in your casket and friends and family are mourning you, what would you like to hear them say about you?"

The first guy says, "I would like to hear them say that I was a great doctor of my time and a great family man."

The second man says, "I would like to hear that I was a wonderful husband and school teacher who made a huge difference in our children of tomorrow."

The last guy says, "I would like to hear them say...LOOK, HE'S MOVING!!!"

Maybe you've also heard the song by Kris Allen called Live Like We're Dying . It's a powerful reminder to, well, live like we're dying.

For example:

Yeah, we gotta start
Looking at the hands of the time we've been given
If this is all we got and we gotta start thinking
If every second counts on a clock that's ticking
Gotta live like we're dying.

We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or to throw it all away
We gotta tell them that we love them
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying.

In a serious way, I would like to remind you that life is fatal because no one gets out alive. The statistics on death are very impressive - 10 out of every 10 people living on earth will eventually die.

Unless Jesus comes back, of course, but since we can't control that, what we should control is how we approach each and every one of the 86,400 seconds that God grants us in a day.

In the song, Allen encourages us to tell people we love them and live with no regrets - which is good advice - but to truly live like you were dying involves much more than that.

Ironically, to truly live like we're dying means that you should live like they're dying...

Who are they? Everyone! They are your friends and your enemies, your family and the foreigners, your teachers and coaches and delivery people and cashiers where you shop.

They are anyone and everyone that God puts in your path...and you need to remember that they are dying.

Not just physically, but spiritually as well. Everyone on the planet has a terminal spiritual disease called sin that has separated us from God. It not only destroys our lives now, but separates us from the God who made us.

But the amazing news is that we carry the cure! We who have trusted in Jesus Christ know the most powerful message of salvation in the universe, because it has saved us from the penalty and power of sin.

The question is...what are you going to do with the cure? Let me challenge you with the words of someone who absolutely and totally lived like everyone around him was dying:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23, NLT).

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes (Romans 1:16, NLT).

Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn't preach the Good News! If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust (1 Corinthians 9:16-17, NLT).

And God has given you this sacred trust as well. So each day remember that you

Only got 86,400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or to throw it all away
We gotta tell them that we love them
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying.

Trust me, the best way to tell someone that you love them is to tell them about the Someone who loved them so much that He died on a cross to pay the penalty for their sin, and now offers the free gift of eternal life and love to anyone who believes. Living a life for THE Cause of Christ is a guaranteed life of no regrets.

We gotta live like they're dying!

(Resources from Dare2Share and Soulfuel)