He was a fugitive on the run, desperate for a place to hide.
The 38-year-old man had escaped a prison sentence for aggravated assault and resisting a public official. Fresh out of options, he noticed a life-sized nativity set and seized on a moment of inspiration.
When no one was looking, he stepped right into that nativity scene posing as someone adoring the Christ child. That’s when an onlooker of no less stature than the town’s mayor walked by.
At first, he was impressed by how “lifelike” the figure was. But then the mayor realized it was all a fake and asked the man to step away from the nativity scene.
The man refused, claiming that the nativity was his home.
That’s when the mayor contacted the local police, who quickly identified the guy as a wanted fugitive and hauled him away. It all happened just last weekend.
Oddly, this story is hardly an isolated incident. The world is full of folks pretending like they fit in with Jesus.
For thousands of years, people have shown up in churches where Jesus is worshipped. They’ve sung songs about Jesus, heard sermons about Jesus, maybe even bowed their head as people prayed in Jesus’ name.
But they don’t actually know Jesus as the leader of their life, the forgiver of their wrongdoing (sin). Apart from that kind of connection with Jesus, they are—spiritually speaking—fugitives!
Is that you, by any chance, faking your friends and family into thinking you and Jesus are okay? Well, Jesus isn’t fooled. Nor is He okay with that.
The Bible says of Jesus in 1 John 5:12, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
There’s no use hiding or pretending with Jesus. Stop trying to fool yourself and others. Instead, receive the gift of God, eternal life, through Jesus Christ.
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
-Romans 10:9
SOURCE: https://www.euronews.com