Day 3172 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Ephesians 2:3 NIV

On this eve of the day in which many will delve into a deeper than normal measure of devilry and darkness, I've a scary story to set the theme if you will:

Dead men with tales to tell.

Yes, whoever you are, wherever you are, know that you walk amongst the dead. But the scary part is that many will stay that way. Lost inside souls sealed shut by the selfishness of sin. Hearts so cold love cannot be found as they cannot beat to that tune any longer. Minds warped and wicked from a wanton worshipping of all that's egregiously wrong in this world. Lives lived not caring to live for what's worth living for.

No, life is as it has always been, just this means by which we lavish upon ourselves all that we like so to please those we want to like us so that we hear this roar of applause that makes us feel loved, a sound which for a moment drowns out the realization that our souls are teetering on the brink of never coming back to life.

See, it's that company we've kept that have encouraged us to likewise keep in step with the death we shouldn't accept. But now it's grown to be all we know to acknowledge as it allows us to agree to all that our flesh desires to keep alit the fires that have us feeling alive though we ought to know better. Because alive is about the last thing that our lives have been thus far.

Truth is that all of us know little of life as we've spent life thus far chasing only what keeps us lured away from its Giver. That a people can so willfully reject the Author of love and Perfecter of faith is an accomplishment which shouldn't garner any agreement, let alone this world-wide way of living that has that the epitomic outcome sought by most.

That the devil can, has and is still convincing folks to choose the cold embrace of death rather than walk in the warm light of love is truly a remarkable accomplishment. Indeed, our adversary is not seen as such. No, I'm afraid as we see unveiled this time of year, he is by all means winning hand over fist the souls willing to sell themselves in exchange for naught but the chance to indulge in all that ought not be done.

Yes, I fear that growing toward maturity is a considered a rather mundane and miserable manner in which to make a life anymore. This fact is seen in the clearly corresponding fact that so few have grown past the excitement of petty rebellion. It's as if all of society has settled for this outlook that has them looking for ways in which to provoke their Maker to prove Himself.

Much like the children we once were, many still live only to go against their Father's wishes, commands, will and design. They want to prove that they've the ability and the power and the audacity to deny Him the respect and reverence He is so fully due. That's kind of what we talked about yesterday. He bought us back from the brink at a price we ourselves cannot even begin to pretend we can afford.

No, unlike Christ, we ain't taking that cross with life still left to be lived on the other side of the miserable death it defines.

But alas, it seems that no matter the meaning, any message will fail to be found when it falls upon dead ears. Yes, we've descended below deaf at this point, ears now set above hearts so unwilling to live that they no longer find the will to hear. And so the pattern we've seen since the beginning of us will undoubtedly continue in deepening and widening approach until He once more comes to deal with the dead.

Only this next time there won't be a celebration of resurrection for most.

No this next time, those coffins will be welded for all eternity. The death many are choosing, yes choosing, will be the reward they get to experience forever. Shortsighted as we may have long been, we've left no excuse as again, the cross still stands regardless of whether or not any of us are willing to stand its message.

And that's the terrifying tragedy told in this tale of spine-tingling stupidity. Most don't hear it. Most won't hear. The vast majority simply will not have it. They’ve chosen in their dead hearts to no longer endure sound teaching telling them the truth. Because that truth confronts the lies that reside inside those hearts that we fear finally admitting we’ve not felt in some time.

But why? Why do we still lean toward this tendency to tragedy? Why this widespread rejection of life, love, the pursuit of He who loves us so much that He overcame our death for us that we might simply live without that fearful burden weighing us down, keeping us here in this place so wanting to be apart from Him? Because it's easier to do what's already and always been done than to dare do something new.

No, this inhuman humanity among whom we trudge has chosen to race and rage against Him with all their illusion of might. To throw filth and futility in His face, the same face spat upon by those who foreknew nothing yet pretending to know it all. Tell me you've not heard that, seen that still resound even today. A people who know everything but live clearly unaware of all they've refused to know.

That's very much the way of the world in which we walk. But, and here's the hard part for all of us: We've walked it too. Held tight hearts that held us hostage, hidden in the shadows where our sins couldn't be seen. Chasing these childish concerns, unconcerned about the consequences. Living like life is all about what we like and avoiding what doesn't measure up to our esteemed entitlement.

Yes, all of us have sat our lazy bones upon these thrones acting as if we're the only royalty, unwilling to admit or accept that we've royally messed up. I fear we still fail to find the full measure of sin's cost most days. It's often still just a word that some consider unbecoming or uncouth. It's a bit of liquid that only burns at the beginning as it goes down, doesn't do much damage after that. It's but an image flashing on a screen, nothing worrying to see.

It's fighting against those fighting against our right to our opinion that we're right and they're not, not really a matter of hatred, surely. We're not really worshipping or idolizing other things or other people, no we're just big fans who happen to hang upon their every word while not really caring much about anything God's Word has to say.

No, for the most part we're all pretty innocent. Just a bunch of adorable little angels who don't fly too far beyond the bounds of respectful and responsible life.

Do you understand that one course word is entirely enough to seal our fate? That one that we let slip when someone cuts us off in traffic or we nearly cut off our toe slamming it against the corner of something while not paying attention. Allowing that one song with that line about a little harmless drug use is our inviting in an idea not fit to reside alongside the Savior of our souls.

A scary movie spent seeing gore and violence leads us away from the Helper and Healer. But it's all done in the name of harmless fun, isn't it? Just a holiday, a bit of fun for the kids. Just a catchy tune with a beat we can bop to. It's just a word or a thought or a moment of weakness that we're owed. Right? We're owed the right to not get it all right. And since we can't get everything right, why try?

That's the outlook we've altogether settled upon. Why try? Why extend ourselves? Why worry ourselves with these thoughts telling us that we might be doing something wrong? Why accept these challenges to our preferences, is not God a good Father who just wants us to be happy?

NO! He is a righteous Father who calls us to be holy! That we've unanimously chosen to fail in that request is why we are all unitedly deserving of death. Because in every moment we've the chance to choose to either glorify God or to gratify self. Sadly, we've chosen the latter almost exclusively. We've long lived putting ourselves in His place and asking Him to therefore get out of our face.

And I don't really care if we've not really ever been able to see it like that. Because life isn't about what we see as our eyes have shown that they tend to only see what we want to see. And so far they've seen us straight into a grave from which we cannot return. Death is death. It is the end we've always thought it to be. It is final. It is forever. And it is deserved by all of us.

But by the grace of God, Christ came to take what we deserve and exchange it for a chance we don't. We don't deserve the chance to turn as our pasts have proven we bear hearts that don't want to. We don't want to change. We don't want to be humble. We don't want to lose. No, we want to win, to enjoy, to live unencumbered by the responsibility to be respectful and righteous. We want to do this all our way. Just so happens that our way only leads one way.

To hell.

How's that for a scary story?

We all deserve a kind of misery that our minds cannot imagine. Literally, cannot imagine. We can't picture it because His benevolence has benefitted us this life in which we live with endless chances to change, to turn, to return from where we've gone wrong back to the One who makes all things new. His mercies are new every morning, covering the mistakes made the day before, even forgiving the messes we've yet to make today.

How much longer can we take that for granted while assuming that this semblance of peace we see now is unending? Friends it isn't! One day the fullness of God will be removed from the lives of those who just wish He'd go away. He will one day oblige. But that isn't the route to freedom our foolishness has assumed it to be.

Because He is love. He is kindness. He is patience. He is mercy. He is healing. He is forgiveness. He is peace. And so once He's gone for good from those who find themselves good enough without Him in their way, all that He is will be gone too.

And simply put, death will then be a wish unable to be fulfilled.

Yes, when hell shows itself as real as it is, those who've chosen it will spend forever wishing they could die just so it would end. But it won't. That's the weight of eternity. It doesn't cease, don't waver, won't run out. And the truth is that all of us deserve one side of that decision, and it's the one that demands damnation.

Because we've all lived like this world that collectively contends that God's just an idea used by some to scare people into being good.

No my friends, it's not about scaring anyone into submission because that outcome will happen one way or another. We will all bow, every knee. Every tongue will finally confess that He alone is God and that thus we never were. So this fire and brimstone that most find unnecessary isn't about scaring anyone. It's just about getting across the severity of what's coming so that we can finally make a choice for a reason other than self-indulgence.

All of us have put our flesh first. All of us have settled for seeing sin and being satisfied. All of us have thought thoughts that led to words said that led feet down a path paved by only our plans and our passions and our preferences for protecting our fragile opinions. All of us have lived like this world. But this world is headed for horror, a kind no scary movie can possibly convey.

We cannot continue taking God's goodness for granted. He deserves our reverence, and one day He will demand what He is due. Now we can go along as we've been going along and keep doing as we've always let the world convince us is okay to do. But His Word says that such choice deserves death. It's black and white. Wrong or right? Darkness vs. light.

It's all just that easy, time we stop making it so hard just in this foolish effort to craft an excuse that we hope we can use that will let us off the hook for not having taken our foot off the gas before flying over the edge into what He said.

We have no excuse, no reason, no possible way to explain the utter lack of honor we've shown unto He who took our place that we might one day be where He is now.

My point is that all this ends in either Heaven or hell. And while it might make us feel a bit better to be among those who pretend neither exist, that mindset will ultimately reside on the wrong side of forever, forever. Again, where we go from here will never end. Perhaps we should weigh our choices a little more carefully considering how many times we've picked the wrong path in the past.

Because if we don't change our ways, we're only asking Him to change them for us. And well, arrogance only learns one way. Please don't choose that choice. Because while humility may hurt, hell won't fade. And it simply doesn't matter what any flesh may say. Because this flesh will fail.

Just to up to us as to where we fall when it has.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold