To Do or Not To Do? That is the Question

    Some questions are easy to answer and others are more difficult.  That was not a profound statement but one that is rather obvious.  Easy questions are those that you can answer quickly and that require little thought.  Others, might take a bit more time.  The rich young man came to the Lord Jesus Christ and asked a question, "What do I need to do in order to have eternal life?"  He figured that there must be one major thing that he could do and then have eternal life in the end.  For him, it was all about works.    First john 5:11-13 says, "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.   These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
       The  response in unbelief of the rich young man's question, might be "Duh!"  This would indicate that to us the answer is indeed simple.  It is so simple that one shouldn't even ask the question.  People, however, do ask the question and for many they go away sad because they refuse the answer that is so obvious.  It is an obvious answer, but it is also a simple answer, and we don't like things that are simple.  We want to complicate them with a long list of things to do.  This was the problem with the rich young man.  He wanted to know what he could "do."  This was my problem for many years.  I wanted to find something that I could do that would make me have a good standing with God, and then in the end, have eternal life.  That's when my fellow clarinet instructor and best man at our wedding, Ron Riley, came by my teaching "cubicle" and quoted First John 5:11-12 and then left.  He said nothing else.  Those verses answered my question,  If you have the Son, then you have eternal life.  If you don't have the Son, you don't have life.  Now, if the Bible's answer doesn't square with the world's answer, which one do you chose as being right?  Again, Duh!  We take the answer that is Biblical over any other view, opinion, guesswork or imagination.  He that has the Son has life.  Praise God today that He still is in the business of granting eternal life.