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THE PENTATEUCH

GENESIS ---EXODUS--- LEVITICUS 1.1-7.38 --- 8.1-11.47 --- 12.1-16.34--- 17.1-27.34--- NUMBERS 1-10--- 11-19--- 20-36--- DEUTERONOMY 1.1-4.44 --- 4.45-11.32 --- 12.1-29.1--- 29.2-34.12 --- THE BOOK OF JOSHUA --- THE BOOK OF JUDGES --- PSALMS 1-17--- ECCLESIASTES --- ISAIAH 1-5 --- 6-12 --- 13-23 --- 24-27 --- 28-35 --- 36-39 --- 40-48 --- 49-55--- 56-66--- EZEKIEL --- DANIEL 1-7 ---DANIEL 8-12 ---

NAHUM--- HABAKKUK---ZEPHANIAH ---ZECHARIAH --- THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW ---THE GOSPEL OF MARK--- THE GOSPEL OF LUKE --- THE GOSPEL OF JOHN --- THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES --- 1 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-16 --- 2 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-13 -- -GALATIANS --- EPHESIANS --- COLOSSIANS --- 1 THESSALONIANS --- 2 THESSALONIANS --- 1 TIMOTHY --- 2 TIMOTHY --- TITUS --- HEBREWS 1-6 --- 7-10 --- 11-13 --- JAMES --- JOHN'S LETTERS --- REVELATION

--- THE GOSPELS

Chapter 1 Why Are You Still Living There?

A missionary was one day talking to an enquirer who had asked him how he could live a better life. The missionary told him a story.

He said, “There was a man who lived in poverty in a small ramshackle shanty, with walls that were made of cardboard and covered with slime, holes for windows, and a broken down door held in place by string. The whole place was filthy, and was constantly beset by rats, and when it rained the rain poured in everywhere. One day a distant relative came to stay with him. This man was very kind and expressed concern for his situation and out of compassion said, ‘I feel sorry for you. I cannot allow you to have to go on living like this. I have been given a legacy and I will use it to buy your house, which will give you sufficient so that you can buy one of those nice new houses that have been built in the estate across the way. All I ask is that you will just let me have your old shanty in return.’ The man agreed, and as good as his word his visitor gave the man a large sum of money for his shanty, (which was all that he had), and in return received a piece of paper guaranteeing that the man would move out and leave the shanty empty so that it could be sold off, leaving the donor with a little to live on.

But when he returned six months later to take possession of the grimy, slime-ridden shanty he found that the man was still living there. ‘What are you doing here?’ he asked. ‘This shanty doesn’t belong to you any longer. Why haven’t you moved out into one of those splendid new houses?’ The man smiled craftily. ‘Ah, but this way,’ he said, ‘I have both the money and the shanty.’

His visitor looked grim. ‘But if you do not move out and let me sell the shanty I will be left with nothing. I will be living in poverty’, he protested. The man sneered. ‘You should have thought of that,’ he said, ‘before you let me have the money.’ And turned round and went inside, slamming the door in his face.”

“Tell me,” said the missionary to the enquirer, “What do you think the visitor should do?”

The enquirer was indignant. “Why,” he said, “the man must not be allowed to get away with it. That is shameful. The courts must immediately be called on and the man removed from the house.”

The missionary smiled gently. “You are that man,” he said. “You live a sinful life in similar conditions spiritually to that filthy shanty. And one day the Lord Jesus Christ came and gave Himself to redeem you from what you are so that you might be able to live a clean and pure life. He suffered greatly so that you could receive a new life. He died to buy your freedom. Your life thus belongs to Jesus Christ Who suffered and died in order to purchase you. And you have agreed that He should have your life. And yet you still insist on going on living there in spite of what He has done, and when He comes you deny Him access. But your life no longer belongs to you, it belongs to Him. Why then are you still living there?”

The enquirer was silent. Then he said, “You are right, from now on I will cease to live here, and allow Him to live through my life as He wishes.”

And this should not only be true for him it should be true for us all. None of us any longer have any right to live our lives as we please. For by dying for us on the cross He has bought us with a price, and it is therefore incumbent on us to vacate our lives so that He might live through them as He will. And that is what He wants to do.

Before you move on bow your head now and pray. Beg Him to come in now and take over your life, and ask His forgiveness that you have kept Him out of His rightful position for so long.