HOW I MADE $860,538.38 PROFIT IN 4 MONTHS!

I wanted to write a blog post today. The thing is, I couldn't think of anything to write about. I know that, at various times over the last week or so, I've had things flash through my mind and thought “that would make a good blog post”. But now, as I sit down to actually write something, I can't think of any of them.

So, I did what people do in these situations today. I went to the internet. I searched for “Awesome Blog Post Titles”, thinking I might find something that would spur some sort of thought. I found a list, and the title I have above was the second one listed.

I assume the precise number, $860,538.38, is supposed to make us believe this is real. I mean, if someone said, “How I Made Almost a Million Dollars In Less Than Half a Year”, people might think, “Oh, sure.” But if they say they made $860,538.38 in four months, well, that has to be accurate. They must counted every penny to get a precise number like that, right?

Of course, the other reason we think a number like that is accurate is because we want to. Most people would like to believe they can have a lot of money, and most people would like to believe they can have it quickly and without having to do much of anything. We'd like to believe that was possible, even though we know better. And because we'd like to believe that, sometimes we do. Sometimes we fall for these things, even though our common sense tells us it cannot be true.

We'd like to believe our Christian faith works that way, too. We'd like to believe we can have salvation, and we'd like to believe we can have it quickly and without having to do much of anything. We'd like to believe that was possible, even though we know better. And because we'd like to believe that, sometimes we do. We fall for it, even though our common sense tells us it cannot be true.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not arguing for a works-based faith here. There's a sense in which we can have salvation quickly and without having to do much of anything. As soon as we believe in God and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we have salvation. There's nothing else we have to do. That's it.

We don't have to do anything, and yet we do. Because if we truly believe in God and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we change. We leave behind some of the selfish things we used to do. We put God and others first in our lives. We won't do those things perfectly, of course. No one ever does. But we will do them. That's what accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior means.

That's hard. It'd be a lot easier of we could have salvation without having to change. But that's not how it works. Jesus did not come to earth with a message of “Hey, guys, you're doing great! Don't change a thing!” Jesus' message is one of love, but it's also one of repentance and forgiveness. And we cannot be sincere about asking for forgiveness if we don't intend to change anything.

No matter how many changes we make in our lives, of course, very few of us are likely to get rich. Acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Savior, however, can lead us to make the changes that lead to forgiveness. Then, we will have the ultimate in riches. We will have eternity with God.