A True Horror Story

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

Today's Passage> Ezekiel 18: 1-23
Memory Verse> Psalm 103: 9-10

In keeping with the season most Americans insist on celebrating, here's a true horror story for you: you're trapped in a time warp and have no way of getting out. Your ancestors embraced various practices such as witchcraft, human sacrifices, and the worship of animals as well as other forces of nature. Upon your birth, you were indoctrinated into these practices. But even more than that, your father and grandfather dedicated you to the "god" of the mountain (which was actually a demon), promising that your life would be lived in devotion to it. There's no earthly way out of this, because this way of life is all you know. Covenants have been signed and sealed in blood.

Scared yet? It gets worse. Upon your 11th birthday, you are told it is time for you to enter into the agreement that was made on your behalf. You are informed that you're getting ready to meet the god your ancestors have been worshipping all this time. You're made to stand in front of this mountain and chant certain words, and after a while the base of the mountain lifts and you're allowed in. The god your ancestors have been worshipping introduces himself to you, and passes on to you the requirements of your devotion. Cowrie shells are sewn into your skin, and you are given powers that will extend your life and allow you to be practically invincible. But in exchange for these powers, you must pledge to make a certain number of human sacrifices every year, and there are also kinds of foods you are forbidden to eat.

After several days of receiving your "training", you are released from the base of the mountain, and you begin to live your life as the new high priest of this god of your ancestors. Years later, when you think you have killed enough people to satisfy your god's thirst for blood, you find yourself in the middle of the civil war. You find out that you can become a soldier and help avenge your people. This will be a faster way to receive your supply of human parts -- and you take full advantage of it, working your way through the ranks of the rebel army until you become a greatly-feared general. All's perfect in your world: until the day you encounter Jesus Christ Himself in much the same way as Saul did in the book of Acts. He asks you this simple question: "Why are you slaving when you were created to be a king?" The bottom line is you catch a glimpse of true love, and you reach for it.

Here's the question: even after everything you've done to break God's heart, should He refuse to write your name in His Lamb's Book of Life just because of everything you were born into? What if you asked God to come in and forgive all the evil things you did in your past, but He decides to hold all the sins you and your ancestors committed against you? What kind of God would He be to ignore your earnest attempts to accept redemption? Praise Him that He's not at all that cruel! The young man I'm referring to, who is now a minister in Liberia, obtained his freedom from the forces of darkness after many days of fasting and prayer. The same thing can be done for anyone, no matter what web of sin he or she has been tangled in, or for how long. No principality or power is strong enough to overcome the power of the blood of the Lamb. Long story short, this young man is now ministering to other trapped souls and giving his testimony to the saving power of THE God of the Universe. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. How will your horror story end? Is it still ongoing, or will you allow the truth to set you free?

Prayer: Father, You are my Hero Who came in and saved the day, delivering me from the chains of my past as well as those imposed upon me by myself. Thank You for the blood of Jesus. May my life be the testimony You desire it to be. May I always make You famous, telling of Your saving power wherever I go. In Jesus' Mighty Name, Amen.