As many of you know, I am a Type II Diabetic; I was first diagnosed with the disease in 2005. At first, I did not take the diagnosis seriously and continued to eat what I wanted to, skip medications, and for long periods of time, I did not even bother to monitor my blood/glucose levels. As many of you are reading this, you are probably (and correctly) wondering what was wrong with me—the doctor had told me what I needed to do to be healthy, to overcome Type II Diabetes, and how to avoid the complications that Diabetes can bring into one’s life if the disease is not controlled. It was a hard thing to hear that I was a Diabetic and even more difficult to convince myself of the need to take the doctor’s advice seriously.
Now, having been a Diabetic for almost ten years, I have accepted the fact that I have a disease that can not only be managed, but could be defeated. Since 2007, I have managed to lose over 45 pounds, have an A1C considered within a healthy and normal range (last lab results were 6.8), and am normally careful about what and how much I eat. Three months ago I reached a milestone as my weight is where it was over ten years ago. What made the difference is that I had to come to an understanding with what I was, what the diagnosis and prognosis was in my condition at that time. I had to accept the advice of my doctor, the nutritionist, and even a physical fitness expert to get my health back on track. I have done my own research, have modified my diet, and increased the amount of exercise in my efforts to gain control over my Diabetes. I have reached the point to where my doctors are now considering reducing the amount of medication I take since my lifestyle continues to lead to improved health.
As I share this with you, I cannot help but to think how this is a picture of our lives before we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our only hope for Heaven. Solomon, regarded as being one of the wisest rulers that the world has ever seen, wrote, The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise (Proverbs 12:15). Solomon also wrote, There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12). I don’t know if it was simple denial or just plain stupidity, but just as I chose to ignore the advice of my doctors when I was first diagnosed with Diabetes, many people choose to ignore the Holy Spirit as the work begins to prepare the heart to make a choice that has eternal consequences. If you’re reading this and have never trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, God puts this question to you: I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live (Deuteronomy 30:19). Why would God call us to make such a choice? Because in our natural state, we do not see anything wrong with what we are. We believe that because we don’t display our sins in the open that somehow we are not as bad as the thief or the murderer. Just as I was trying to deny I had Diabetes, in mankind’s natural state, they do not want to admit that they are a sinner. Jesus told his disciples, For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad (Mark 4:22). Although the Diabetes was hidden within my body and I couldn’t see it; but it was still there. Just because others cannot see the sins that we keep hidden does not mean that they are not there. The apostle John wrote, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (I John 1:8).
Jeremiah the prophet wrote, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9); I have seen this demonstrated as I have tried to share the gospel with others. No one wants to admit they are a sinner and there have even been a few that have tried to claim that their sins were not as bad as others that they knew. Truth is, the apostle John said it best: All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death (I John 5:17). Before anyone can accept the prescription that leads to everlasting life and an eternal home in Heaven, they must be willing to admit that they have the sin-disease. The apostle Paul wrote to the early Christians in Rome, As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Romans 3:10-12). Even within the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away (Isaiah 64:6). Mankind’s diagnosis, the diagnosis we all share is found in the book of Romans: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Romans 5:12).
Just as any doctor will tell you what will happen if you let your condition go untreated, the Bible tells us where the “disease” of sin will lead: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). Sin has but one course that it runs: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (James 1:14-15). Just as my Diabetes has its progressive course that would lead to blindness, increased risk for stroke or heart attack, and eventually an early death, sin has its course it runs through. Sin entices, sin welcomes, sin traps, sin brings about death—an eternal spiritual separation from God and eternal punishment in a lake of fire. The book of Revelation shows the end result of the unrepentant sinner: And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12-15).
The good news is that you don’t have to go there. You don’t have to suffer the deterioration, pain, and death that sin brings. The “cure” is Jesus, Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). There is no cure for sin outside the shed blood of Jesus. There is no other way into the eternal presence of God but through Jesus: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6). When I became serious about managing my Diabetes, I asked the doctor what all I needed to do to get it under control. If you’re to the point in your life where you realize your way is no longer working and you want to try something different, you’ve reached the point where you’re now asking as many before you have asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:30b). The good thing about God is that he made the “cure” easy. There’s no complex diet to follow, no calories to track, or even religious sacrifices that needs to be performed. Paul summed it up in one verse: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).
God doesn’t care about your race, how much money you have in the bank, who your parents are, or even what nationality you are; For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him (Romans 10:12). The apostle Peter, whom had denied the Lord Jesus Christ three times on the night of His trial, wrote, Humbleyourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you (I Peter 5:6-7). Even Jesus taught during His earthly ministry, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16-18). Yes, it actually is that easy and the high cost of our sins has already been paid. The only part of our salvation that depends on us is our acceptance of what Christ has already done for us: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:9). If you’re lost and have not accepted Christ as your savior, you now have the diagnosis, prognosis, and the cure; the rest is up to you.
This entry was previously published in the July 2014 issue of Gospel Light Baptist Church of Henderson, Kentucky.
