Make Believe (NKJV)

It’s fun sometimes just to “make believe,” isn’t it? You know how boys and girls, and sometimes even grown-ups dress up in costumes at Halloween. The idea is to have fun and to fool people, but sometimes nobody really gets fooled at all. Notice the “make believe” scarecrow! He’s supposed to frighten the crows away, but the crow perched on his arm is not scared at all! I suppose, if he could talk, the crow would say, “He’s a fake!” And that’s just what the scarecrow is! He doesn’t fool the crow! But let me turn your thoughts to something that is very real and important. Now don’t stop reading and throw this paper down. You don’t want to always “make believe,” do you? You don’t want to be “a fake” do you? Let me ask you, are you truly a born-again Christian, a genuine child of God? Are you really forgiven of your sins? Do you have eternal life? Are you sure of going to heaven when your life here on earth is gone forever? These are some questions for you to consider without a moment’s further delay. A young man came to me in deep distress of soul. For several years I had known him to be a very nice boy. He had learned many Bible verses, and had even preached once in a while. Yet he said, “I have only been pretending. I have never repented of my sins, nor trusted the Lord Jesus as my Savior; but I want to be saved now!” What about you, dear reader? Are you trying to make other people believe you are a Christian, and yet you have never been born again, and you are not really saved? God knows if you are merely pretending, even though others may be fooled. If the crow knows the scarecrow is “a fake,” don’t you think that God knows if you are one of His genuine children or not? Of course He does! “The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Listen, I have good news for you! You may become a true Christian, a genuine child of God right now! God, who knows all about you, loves you more than you could ever imagine. He sent His Son into the world to die for you at Calvary. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Your sins make you guilty and deserving of death and judgment, but Christ died and rose again that you may be saved forever. Take off your false face, own up to God that you are a lost helpless sinner, and turn to Him—this is repentance. Tell Him that you believe with all your heart that the Lord Jesus died for you and rose again, and that you accept Him as your Savior—this is faith. Do you know what will happen? He will immediately forgive you of your sins, give you eternal life, and make you a real child in His family! This is no “make believe.” This is true. This is for real! God says it—listen: “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12,13). “Make believe” no longer. Receive the Lord Jesus Christ now. Believe on His Name, and become His child forever. —D.T.J.