The Bear And The Red Hot Stove!
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesOnce in a dense forest a big bear broke into a cabin of some hunters. They were out at the time but had left a fire in a pot-bellied stove. The bear saw the red hot stove and figured it was an enemy, so he ran over and put a bear hug on it. Naturally, he was severely burned, but Mr. Bear thought the enemy was trying to fight back, so he squeezed a lot harder and was burned even more. The more he squeezed the more he was burned. What a vicious circle for a vicious bear to be in!
There are many people who would say, “What a dumb animal to hug something to his own hurt!” But it might be they are doing the same thing. How many people are there who hug worldliness (lying, dancing, adultery, wearing immodest apparel, drinking, etc.) to themselves and refuse to part with it? Let someone warn them of the danger and they will hug it all the more. Many cannot bear to part the sin of worldliness, and yet they cannot be saved while holding on to it (1 John 2:15-17). Too many of us are acting a great deal like that bear.
We often profess a desire to go to heaven, but all the while we hang to those very things that will prevent our going. The penman of the book of Hebrews wrote, “Wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).
Paul wrote, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3).
What would make a person want to “gamble” on the eternal home of his (or her) soul (Matthew 16:24-26)? As Christians, we ought to “let go” of anything that has the potential for hindering our being in heaven.