The “catch” to becoming a Christian ............. Parables 709

March 27, 2001

A central Alberta country store has a bell at the checkout counter so customers can ring for the clerk when they are ready to pay for their goods. The bell is mounted on a piece of plywood inside the sprung jaws of a bear trap.

Of course the trap is in plain sight. The jaws are also nailed open lest anyone should lose an arm when all they wanted was a chocolate bar, but the humor catches its prey off guard. It also reminds us of adages such as “look before you leap” and “buyer beware.”

We need that advice every time someone makes us an offer that seems too good to be true. The pitch is believable but it seems too easy. We are skeptical. What is the catch? And we want to know before the jaws close, not after we are trapped.

For some people, the Gospel sounds too good to be true. God promises eternal life by grace, meaning it is free, and we don’t do anything to earn it? Yea, right. A skeptic is certain that there is more to it than that.

The skeptic is right. There is a catch. Eternal life is a free gift from God, but it comes wrapped in a Person — and He is the catch.

If anyone accepts God’s gift they get Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “And this is the testimony; God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life.”

Eternal life with God in heaven is impossible apart from Jesus Christ. He comes to live in us, and no matter how you dice it, living with Deity ‘up close and personal’ means we are going to change.

For one thing, His very presence changes the way we think about sin. Certain activities we once enjoyed start to lose their luster. Our conscience bothers us. We feel convicted by our sins and don’t want to displease God by continuing to do wrong. Instead, we start relying on Jesus to help us overcome our sin and do right.

Another consequence of having Jesus in our lives is that we stop trusting ourselves. Running our own lives used to be easy or at least seemed normal. We made our own decisions and did whatever we wanted to do. But with Him around, our judgments seems less reliable and many actually run contrary to His wisdom. We feel weak and continually in need of His power.

A third element of change is that we have a different attitude toward God and God’s people. At one time, we may have been hostile or at least indifferent to spiritual things. God and Christians were either dull or boring or downright ridiculous in our eyes. But when Jesus lives in us, we begin to have a fuller understanding of God and an awe of Him. We also see His people differently. They shine. They are joyful and filled with a peace that is beyond our understanding. They love us and, amazingly, we love them. Jesus does that to us.

A fourth change is that we want to tell others about God. We want them to know the joy He brings to our lives. We want them to have the same certainty we do about our eternal destiny. This new desire is not from an insecurity that needs others to agree with us but from a secure place with God and a powerful concern for the eternal well-being of those we love.

God also gives us an abiding personal relationship with Himself. This relationship is based on love and trust. It is maintained by thankful obedience to Jesus, our Savior and friend.

Yes, the Gospel has a catch to it but it is not a bear trap. Instead, it is more like another freebie that we didn’t expect; God Himself living in our hearts. We may not have thought that was possible, or was even what we wanted, but anyone who lands this Catch soon realizes that they could not live without Him.