The essence of Christianity

In this illogical and meaningless world of ours, I see at least one thing that is rational. And that is Christianity. When God makes repentance the necessary condition whereby we can be received into His kingdom, He does just what we would do under similar circumstances. Some of my male readers are, no doubt, married or engaged to be married. Do you remember your courtship days? Perhaps it is a long time ago for some of you. But you will never forget the blissful moment in your life when you stammeringly told her that your heart was filled with love for her.

Suppose now that she had answered you about as follows: “Yes, I shall try. I shall do the best I can. I will live with you and work with you, make our home cozy, and save all I can for ourselves and our children.

But – you must from the outset remember that I love somebody else. And you must allow me to continue to love him. I can not live without him.”

What would you have said if she had answered you thus? It certainly would not surprise me if you had been struck speechless. But if you were not and could still say something, you would undoubtedly have replied: “You misunderstand. I have not come to engage a hired girl. I am asking you to become my wife. I am not asking you for your assistance; I am asking you for your heart, as you have mine.”

Whether any woman would give such a reply or not, I do not know. One hears many strange things these days. This I do know, that the Heavenly Bridegroom often receives such answers when He courts His poor and sinful earthly bride. Many answer Him: “Yes, I will serve you. I will go to church; I will attend the Lord’s Supper; I will read the Bible; I will pray daily; and I will participate in Christian work. I will honestly do all these things and do them as well as I can. But – you must excuse me – I love the world. And I can not think of living without permission to love it. But do not let that worry you. I will not be remiss in anything that you want done. And if I should ever forget anything, just call my attention to it, and I will at once apply myself with greater diligence to the exercise of my religious duties.”

Thus they answer Him, generation after generation, daughter after mother, and son after father. And, to climax it all, they think that this is a “reasonable” service, in contradistinction to that of the pietists and enthusiasts, who, they say, always overdo things and go to extremes in religion.

The Heavenly Bridegroom asks you for this one thing: “My son, give me your heart.” (Pro 23:26).

This is the profound meaning of repentance. This is the logic of Christian conversion. This is the rationale of Christian worship. If God can not have our heart, He cares not at all for our religious ceremonials. But if He gets possession of our heart, He gets everything else also.

This is the basic demand of the Gospel: “Whoever loses his soul for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.” (Mk 8:35) This is the pure love for God expressed in the First Commandment: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might! This is the foundation without which the so-called love for neighbour is only covert egoism and hypocrisy!

(Taken from an evangelization book)